Candidates should stop the mudslinging
To the editor:
Attention Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Shelley Berkley:
Please, on behalf of all of us, stop the commercials that feature hatred and anger and are just downright nasty. Instead of wasting your time showing each other's dirty laundry, try telling us the following:
- What have I done to deserve our support for a U.S. Senate seat?
- What will I do if I am elected?
I and many others would like to see more pro and less con. Please take down these commercials. They are more bullying then factual.
J. Gaiptman
Las Vegas
Employee rights
I read with interest the Thursday commentary on union dues by Rick Berman. I am always fascinated by those individuals who are so willing to point a finger at America's unions and cry about how those dues-paying members need to be protected.
Mr. Berman makes the case that Laborers Local 872 here in Las Vegas has bloated salaries and benefit packages. Mr. Berman probably does not understand that most union officials' salaries are based on wages and fringes gained in collective bargaining for their members.
Mr. Berman also seems to not understand the difference between union officials and hired staff, as his reference to the misappropriation of funds by a former cashier would indicate.
It would seem to me that Mr. Berman just doesn't like unions. Or is it the fact that unions tend to support a particular political party that for the most part supports workers?
Health care, pensions and a decent living wage. What is wrong with that, Mr. Berman?
And why not speak out for the rights of shareholders? What about those individuals who put their hard-earned money into the stocks of those companies who have CEOs making tens of millions of dollars in salaries and benefits, yet answer only to a board of directors, the members of which in many cases were appointed by that same CEO?
Have we forgotten about Enron, once worth $90 billion, the seventh-largest company in the United States? When that company went bankrupt, it took jobs, investor savings, retiree futures and even some lives. Who was looking out for them?
Whether it's the Laborers union, Culinary union or any other union, let's be mindful of the fact that their job is to enhance the lives of their members. If you want to talk about greed, don't look there. Instead, look at the businesses that are shoveling millions of dollars into that other political party and not asking their shareholders about their thoughts on the matter.
Rick Wilkening
Las Vegas
On the ball
To the editor:
Articles such as Monday's delightful "Life Often Not A Ball" - about the short shelf life of a minor league baseball - are the reason I remain addicted to my morning newspaper (emphasis on paper). Review-Journal reporter Todd Dewey added a lyrical element to his reporting that made me glad I read an article about a subject that I may not have searched out on my own.
That's what I love about the newspaper.
Susan H. Aaron
Las Vegas
