More regulation won’t fix market
To the editor:
Those of us who serve subprime mortgage borrowers in Nevada agree with your recent editorial warning of the dangers of government interference as the subprime market adjusts to prevailing economic conditions ("Subprime mortgages," April 3). Adding pressure in the form of new regulation would simply exacerbate the restriction of credit that we are seeing, effectively barring some in our state from the opportunity to own their own homes.
This market self-correction is necessary, and even desirable, but it is important that the process is allowed to take place undisturbed. We should bear in mind that the vast majority of subprime borrowers have no problem paying back their mortgages. Maintaining as far as possible wide access to subprime credit is essential if we are to continue the expansion of home ownership in our state.
Ron Gaches
CARSON CITY
THE WRITER IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NEVADA FINANCIAL SERVICES ASSOCIATION.
Homeowner associations
To the editor:
Tom Krasky was dead, solid perfect with his April 7 letter on homeowner associations. Association rules are made to protect the quality of life and property values of the homeowners. Anyone arbitrarily breaking those rules is a fool.
I strongly agree that state legislators should stay out of the picture. If a home buyer doesn't read the rules before buying, he has no right to complain. If the buyer reads the rules and doesn't intend to abide by all of them, don't buy the house.
If the buyer wants to change the regulations once he is a member of the association, doing so through the association structure is acceptable. No need for legislators to become involved. The process is already in place. It is based on the idea of home rule within a democracy
Don Merz
LAS VEGAS
Road fees
To the editor:
I agree with Bruce Mason's April 6 letter in which he argues that government is responsible for providing roads and highways -- and that Nevada should not look to toll roads. It is not appropriate in our state.
I don't agree, however, with Mr. Mason's willingness to pay higher gas taxes and vehicle registration fees. Nevada already pays one of the highest state gasoline taxes in the nation, and we in Southern Nevada pay more gasoline tax than the rest of the state.
In addition, Southern Nevadans have been paying supplemental vehicle registration fees for decades. We already pay for roads. Perhaps there needs to be some accountability for all that money we have paid?
So let's ask our northern neighbors to increase their local gasoline taxes and vehicle registration fees to equal ours before we talk about a state increase.
Yes, Northern Nevada: Once again, it is time for you to pay your fair share and stop riding the revenue coat tails of Southern Nevadans.
Donna West
LAS VEGAS
Social promotion
To the editor:
Regarding Greg Barone's April 1 commentary, "Mass-produced ignorance":
Mr. Barone makes some very cogent points. He says, "Mathematics is a ladder on which no rung can be skipped without inevitable disaster."
As a retired teacher of foreign languages, I can relate to the ladder concept because the same principles apply to learning a foreign language. Any foreign language student must grasp the basic tenets and patterns of the new language at each level before proceeding to the next.
I faced the same situation as Mr. Barone. The Los Angeles system in which I taught had a policy allowing language students to move forward with a grade of D, which is barely passing. Of course this kind of policy portends disaster in that it almost ensures failure as the student struggles with the more advanced material.
Social promotion is a criminal blow to the student. Just take note of the number of students actually wasting precious time having to take remedial courses in college, courses teaching skills that they should have mastered in high school.
Norman A. Nero
LAS VEGAS
Reid plan
To the editor:
The stone thrower who lives in a glass now says that President Bush must learn to compromise ("Reid says Bush must learn to compromise," Friday Review-Journal). Can someone tell me the last time Sen. Harry Reid compromised?
How about this for a start:
Instead of aiding and abetting our enemies in Iraq, take the time-certain date for defeat out of the funding bill and actually make an attempt to push for a victory in Iraq, where terrorists have wreaked havoc on innocent men, woman and children. That would not only be a place to stop the stone-throwing, but it would be an opportunity to shed the mantel of defeat Democrats have accepted rather eagerly as the jewel that will lead them to the White House.
Sen. Reid's remark about there having been no terrorists in Iraq until we invaded assumes that if they were not there, they would not be here. And that tells me he is not smarter than a fifth-grader.
Louis Frederick
NORTH LAS VEGAS
