Don’t appoint Heller, cost of special election too great

To the editor:

Sadly, John Ensign, his effectiveness compromised, has resigned his Senate seat. It was the right thing to do.

Now, Gov. Brian Sandoval has the opportunity to appoint an interim replacement. Reports widely expect the replacement to be Rep. Dean Heller, who has already expressed a desire to run for Ensign's seat next year.

I urge Gov. Sandoval not to appoint Rep. Heller to the seat. Appointing Rep. Heller would trigger a special election to fill Heller's House seat. In an environment in which budget cuts are being urged in many areas, the last thing the governor needs to do is force the state to incur the cost of a special election.

There will be tremendous pressure on the governor to give Rep. Heller the incumbent advantage in a competitive 2012 election against Democrat Shelley Berkley. But if we are to take the budget crunch seriously, the governor cannot ignore the cost of a special election just to gain political advantage.

The governor should resist the pressure and appoint an individual who does not already hold public office to fill the remainder of the Ensign term.

Gary Ashman

Las Vegas

Immoral conduct

To the editor:

Nevada Sen. John Ensign announced his resignation, though he adamantly denied that he violated any law, rule or standard of conduct of the Senate.

Then what would he call having an extramarital affair with a former member of his campaign staff; helping her husband, Doug Hampton, a member of his congressional staff, obtain lobbying work with two Nevada companies; and having his parents provide the Hamptons with a $96,000 gift?

Sounds like immoral and improper conduct to me, with the $96,000 sounding an awful lot like a hush-money payoff.

I guess Sen. Ensign has a different definition of proper conduct than I and most other people have.

Kenneth L. Zimmerman

Huntington Beach, Calif.

Constituent service

To the editor:

I, for one, am not particularly glad to see the demise of Sen. John Ensign's political career.

Over the past few years I have called Sen. Ensign's office three times to whine about something the federal government was wrongfully doing to us. Each time his staffers politely and respectfully listened to my complaint, and promised to pass along my concerns to the senator.

I won't ever forget this. We actually need more non-professional politicians like him.

James Moldenhauer

North Las Vegas

Tax time

To the editor:

The Review-Journal's Monday story on Tax Day warrants the attention of everyone. While we hear a lot about certain industries (especially in Nevada) getting a free ride on taxes, apparently many individuals in the country are getting one as well.

If, as the article states, the top 5 percent of income earners are paying almost half the federal taxes, and the bottom half are paying zero, it's pretty clear who's covering the rest.

I live off a pension and Social Security, yet I paid four times as much tax as the millionaire cited in the article (a millionaire several times over). While I don't resent paying taxes on my Social Security and pension, which have not seen a cost-of-living raise for two years, I would think a fair law would require every working person, citizen and legal resident, to at least have some stake in America and be made to pay even a $1 federal tax. Why not a minimum income tax? Is that too severe?

Not only do half not pay income taxes, they collect salaries through the Earned Income Tax Credit. Some states and municipalities have a flat income tax -- even a low-income earner pays something, while upper-income earners pay more. That's like the Social Security tax -- the same rate for everyone up to a certain level.

Some will say the lower-income people may not contribute any federal taxes but they do pay Social Security and Medicare taxes. Yes, but those programs are set up to benefit them as individuals, not the country at large. As my mother used to say, "The rich have it, the poor get it, and the middle class pays for it." Not a whole lot has changed, but it probably would be a good idea to put some fairness in the tax system so everyone, not just some, is required to do something to benefit the country.

JFK's proclamation to "ask what you can do for your country" rings now like a hollow bell.

Bob Foessett

North Las Vegas