Don’t blame Obama for the economy

Wayne Allyn Root’s argues in his Sept. 11 commentary that the policies and ignorant, anti-business ideas of President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have crippled the U.S. economy. This is just not borne out by the facts.

Mr. Root’s claim that 16 percent of American males are unemployed is not substantiated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobless rate of 5 percent. Perhaps he does not agree with the statistical methodology in computing the unemployment rate, but that would be a different commentary.

Mr. Root also fails to cite examples of actions taken by the president that have caused this supposed high rate of male unemployment given the fact that Mr. Obama has been constrained at every turn by a Republican majority in both houses of Congress.

And what does the former secretary of state have to do with economic policy?

Chris Erbe

Las Vegas

Ugly stick

I heartily agree with Michael Wallen’s Sept. 8 letter, “Sloppy work,” about the median fence along Summerlin Parkway.

When I heard about the installation of the fence, I supposed there would be one fence placed among the trees and bushes in the median where it would not be obviously visible. I was horrified the other day when I drove by for the first time to see that there are two fences — one alongside the parkway in each direction. Obviously, this cost at least twice as much as a single fence.

In addition, as Mr. Wallen notes, it is a sloppy piece of work and a terrible eyesore. It appears to me that putting the fence so close to the travel lane is far more hazardous than placing the fence out in the median.

Paul B. Winn

Las Vegas

Deflating experience

In the past six months, I have needed three tires replaced on my cars because of nails puncturing them that likely came from driving near constructions sites such as the one in my neighborhood. In the most basic calculation, this likely translates to millions of dollars lost by Las Vegas residents every year due to sloppy construction companies that create these road hazards.

I propose that lawmakers start inspecting construction sites and nearby roads for tire-damaging hazards. They should impose heavy fines on these companies so that citizens can try to recoup some of their losses because of their unprofessional work and to discourage this behavior in the future.

Michael Pravica

Henderson

Fire the bank

The new bank fiasco with Wells Fargo is just the latest in big bank misbehavior (“Wells Fargo to pay $190M settlement in customer fraud case,” Sept. 9 Review-Journal). The company has fired 5,300 lower-level employees for doing something management implored them to do.

The bank has paid a fine of $185 million. So what? For a bank the size of Wells Fargo, that’s just a little bump in the road.

Will anybody go to jail for any of this? I don’t think so. They never do. Most likely the fine also contained verbiage to the effect that they admit no wrongdoing.

The real way to teach them a lesson is to fire them. If you have an account with Wells Fargo, close it and move to another bank. It’s the only kind of action they understand.

John Bauman

Las Vegas