Professors forget: Public employees produce nothing
To the editor:
The March 30 commentary from UNLV professors Thomas Carroll and Stephen Miller on public employee pay vs. the private sector needs a non-bureaucratic response: What a crock!
They made an extensive self-serving effort, no doubt on company time, to show that government employees are deserving of higher salaries over private-sector employees because they have more education and experience.
Do they have no respect for the private sector and what its work force has accomplished? Are they aware that public employees produce and create nothing and are highly compensated beyond their pay grades because corrupt elected officials seized political opportunities to work deals with public-sector unions to ensure re-election?
Get a life, gentlemen -- outside of your cocoon.
EDWARD R. DUFFY
LAS VEGAS
City of Laughlin
To the editor:
In response to Benjamin Spillman's Saturday article on legislation to allow the incorporation of Laughlin:
I am a retiree who has no business interest in Laughlin. But I have lived in Laughlin for 21 years and have been actively interested in our governmental and political affairs.
The current bill in the Legislature does not incorporate Laughlin, it merely gives the citizens the right to vote on the matter.
The opponents continue to believe that they know what is in our best interest. I am a retired attorney and know many of those advocating the right-to-vote bill, all of whom are very experienced and intelligent people.
There has already been one independent consulting study completed that shows we can afford to incorporate without the casinos being included in the city limits.
They claim that we may fail. But their real motivation, I submit, is they know we will succeed.
Herm Walker, in-house counsel for the Riverside Resort and Casino, alleges that those advocating the right to vote have personal interests in incorporation. I suggest that your reporters look very closely at Don Laughlin's assets in both Nevada and Arizona and then decide who benefits from continued growth only on the Arizona side of the river.
You may want to look at the initial financial study and consider whether the residential area is underwriting the casinos for police, fire protection, administrative costs, etc.
Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak says there would be no savings for the county because it would still have to serve the casinos. This is an example of the management philosophy currently affecting our community.
Our census reported 7,300 residents. A few, like Mr. Laughlin, live in the casino area, but the commissioner believes he can stop serving more than 7,000 residents with no savings to the county? I don't think so.
In 2008, even before taking office, Mr. Sisolak met with casino representatives and agreed to not reappoint three members of our Town Advisory Board despite the wishes of the residents, as expressed in a straw poll. The commissioner continued to deny the residents an effective vote in the 2010 straw poll, reappointing one of his appointees from 2009 who was, again, rejected by the residents.
I don't understand why Mr. Sisolak thinks we should continue to overpay for fire protection, etc.
Please look behind what appears on the surface and in testimony from those who would not even be within the city of Laughlin if it incorporated.
C. Richard McCall
Laughlin
Get a permit
To the editor:
The Friday commentary by Thomas Mitchell, "Death by a thousand permits," describing the monthly bureaucratic nightmare faced by a taxpayer in attempting to run his business, is a prime example of a disorganized system causing confusion and duplication.
While licensing certain business practices is necessary to protect the public, a standard system of obtaining and granting licenses should be developed so one agency has the authority to coordinate its activities with other agencies as necessary to complete its work.
Leopold A. Potsiadlo
Las Vegas
Free press
To the editor:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says "no boots on the ground" in Libya. After the Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch lies, why should we believe the Pentagon?
How about we close Guantanamo? Or we oppose West Bank settlements? Or ...
Will the press please give the public the truth? Moammar Gadhafi was kicking out Western oil companies and buying surface-to-air missiles from Russia.
Only a free press can serve a democracy.
Art Guterding
Henderson
Easy money
To the editor:
Sen. Harry Reid is correct in that the Social Security system is backed by IOUs from the federal government, as is Medicare and Medicaid (Sunday letter).
Let's take a look at the U.S. Debt Clock. There is a category for those entitlement programs. They are located under the section headlined "Unfunded Liabilities."
What's that? The programs are unfunded by $113 trillion? No problem, because each taxpayer's share is only $1 million.
Don't worry, Sen. Reid, the check to cover my share is in the mail.
How can anyone be so delusional?
Michael A. Donnelly
Las Vegas
