Big Bird is much richer than Mitt Romney
To the editor:
The strong reaction to Mitt Romney's comments about Big Bird ("Sign-ups of voters just got harder," Sunday Review-Journal) was rather surprising. Las Vegas resident Daisy Garcia told your reporter she won't vote for Mr. Romney because he wants to kill Big Bird!
Nothing of the sort. Mr. Romney actually said, "I love Big Bird." However, he does not believe the government should be borrowing 40 cents out of every dollar it spends to help support Big Bird and all the other lovable characters on PBS while the country has $16 trillion in debt.
Here's the fundamental misunderstanding: PBS does not depend on federal funding and can survive very comfortably without taxpayer dollars. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting receives generous contributions from viewers, along with businesses. PBS now runs some commercial advertising between shows. No one is suggesting that Big Bird or PBS be killed, especially when the nonprofit Sesame Workshop has a net worth of some $350 million - more than Mr. Romney himself.
Years ago, I was convinced to donate money to PBS when I saw Newt Gingrich appear in an ad during a pledge week. Yes, Newt Gingrich! He explained that he loves watching PBS and wants to see it thrive - but only with private donations, not tax dollars. I thought to myself: "Well, that makes sense. If I want to watch PBS, I ought to contribute." And so I did.
If you love Big Bird, then go ahead and send PBS a donation. It's the right thing to do. But please don't insist that the government continue to fund everything under the sun while the country is teetering on a financial cliff. Once our country embraces fiscal responsibility, Big Bird will be just fine. Mr. Romney might even have him over to the White House.
Ellen Shaw
Henderson
Raze and rebuild?
To the editor:
In response to your Sunday pro-con commentaries on Clark County Question 2, which would raise property taxes to fund more school construction:
My house is older than the average Clark County school, and it doesn't have the electrical infrastructure to support the modern electronics I need for my home office. Using the school district's thought process, it makes more economic sense to tear down my house and build a new one, instead of simply calling an electrician to install an additional power panel.
Victor Moss
Las Vegas
Sour Lemon
To the editor:
In response to Geneva Lemon's Saturday letter, "Media conspiracy denies Obama's debate victory":
Are you kidding me? I've heard about sour grapes, but it appears that we now have a sour Lemon. Ms. Lemon must have watched a different debate than the estimated 50 million people who tuned in last week. How is it that we are expected to believe everything President Obama says, but anyone who disagrees with him he is labeled a used car salesman? Where has Ms. Lemon been the past four years?
Richard Frank
Las Vegas
Bad endorsement
To the editor:
In response to your Sunday endorsement of Mitt Romney for president:
Let's see if I've got this straight. You want me to vote for a man who made a wheelbarrow load of money by shipping American jobs to China. He then blames President Obama for sending American jobs to China. He deposits the money he made shipping American jobs to China in secret overseas bank accounts - presumably because that's where the money will best aid the American middle class?
Sounds like a true patriot to me. Another fine choice from the editorial board of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Ken Kucan
Las Vegas
