Letters: Readers Depend on Wise Editorial Opinions

Readers Depend on Wise Editorial Opinions
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Sometimes we don't know our own strengths and we speak as though no one is listening -- and so we are careless with our expressions of fact versus opinion. "Be careful what you wish for [politically] for you may get it," and "To him who hath much [exposure to the public], much will be expected."

Recently, the opinions of the editors of The

Times Dispatch have been interesting and more. We are truly glad to know that our candidates for office are distinguished by "integrity, ability, and devotion to Virginia." We try to determine the candidate who will be not only the best for the people of Virginia but (we hope) the best for ourselves personally.

This is where The Times Dispatch comes in. We cannot research every candidate. Therefore we must turn elsewhere for our knowledge. Television? Never. Television lost its credibility before Dan Rather. The Internet? Worse than never. We have learned to doubt everything we read on the Internet.

We are back to you. We believe that you have researched each candidate's position. We believe that you have vetted each candidate, knowing we can't or don't, and that you have not made short cuts or assumptions. We believe that we can continue to trust what we read on the Editorial Pages of The Times Dispatch.

And so editors, your friends, your colleagues, and all those who influence you: We believe you; so be careful to ensure that the person whom you tell us is the best has the same integrity that we feel you have. And therefore you deserve our thanks.

Carolyn Lindsey.
Richmond.

Our military is at war now, still fighting for freedom. If we can't have Bibles and prayer in school or other places then why are our troops fighting? I have every right to do the things I do because of the sacrifices and lives of our servicemen and -women. My husband and three of his brothers all fought in WWII, two of our sons and three grandsons have served -- one in Iraq. I pray for our country, founded on God, that freedom will prevail.

God bless America.

Ann Rowe.
Mechanicsville.

The Founders were a group of very independent thinkers who required the inclusion of reasoning evidence that included the acceptance of God. That acceptance was again based on observance and reason. That reason appears to have been replaced with the notion that our Constitution prevents the acceptance of a divine authority and imposes a purely secular approach in regard to government. A quote by John Adams comes to mind: "Our Constitution was made only for religious and moral people, it is wholly inadequate for a government of any other."

That it was the intention of the Founders to respect the concept of God and religion is evident.

It is clear in the Declaration of Independence that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Again, it is likewise clear that the Founders and our Constitution encompass both state and religion. That it does not endorse any denomination or sect is evident. With that established, it would appear that only the atheist could take exception,

One who accepts a divine authority need not be offended if that authority were represented by Jesus, Moses, Muhammad, or Buddha. Respect and courtesy should dictate a tolerance for other religious beliefs. I find it odd that our government has evolved from the acceptance of a divine being to a totality of secularism and it has done so in mere decades. It appears that religion ceases to belong to the whole nation.

Andrew Maggard.
Port Haywood.

Ryan points out that the big, bad health insurance industry -- in his example, WellPoint -- made an enormous profit of $61 billion last year. In actuality, WellPoint had a profit of $2.5 billion on revenues of $61 billion. The difference between those two figures represents health claims paid out to doctors and hospitals, taxes paid, and administrative costs. That's about a 4 percent after-tax return for WellPoint -- hardly considered gouging. As for the public option, the current government-run option, Medicare, is going broke in 2017, even though workers have to pay into it for upward of 40-45 years before they can begin to use it at age 65. And now, Ryan is supporting another government-run public option (ultimately subsidized by taxpayers). So now I will have the privilege of paying not only my own health insurance premiums and Medicare taxes, but a third new set of taxes to subsidize the public option as well.

The current health reform bill from the House has been scored by the Congressional Budget Office at about $1 trillion. Through sleight-of-hand, that figure doesn't include $250 billion to doctors for Medicare payments. It also makes rosy assumptions about cutting out billions of dollars of waste in Medicare and cuts in Medicare Advantage plans. (If cutting out fraud and waste hasn't happened in the past 40 years, what makes anyone believe it's going to happen now?) So the true costs of this bill will be in the neighborhood of $1.5 trillion. And guess who ultimately pays the $1.5 trillion.

Thanks, but no thanks to the public option. And by the way, I don't work in either the insurance or health industry.

John Kmec.
Chesterfield.

Does your Editorial staff or Gecker really need to have a child hurt or killed to prove to him that bow hunting within a closed neighborhood isn't safe?

Depending on the hunter's skill, bow hunting can involve a very high non-fatal wounding rate. Even expert bow hunters agree that a clean kill shot does not necessarily drop a deer in its tracks. In fact, research shows that a mortally injured deer will often run 100 yards or more before falling. In most neighborhoods, that means the deer just ran out of the hunter's yard into a neighbor's yard. I don't want to see a suffering or dying deer in the street or in my yard. I don't want my children to have to see it. I expect in my neighborhood, I shouldn't have to.

You state that bow hunting is a good way to thin deer herds, but I would suggest that you are referring to a managed deer hunt conducted with that aim, rather than a neighbor here and there hanging out in the backyard shooting them. Even after a managed hunt, multiple studies have shown that decreased competition for food allows the remaining deer to become healthier and produce even more offspring.

Just a couple weeks ago, a neighbor's photo of an albino deer in his yard graced the pages of your newspaper. Many of us consider it a pleasure to watch them and have learned to plant deer resistant plants, and lose the occasional tomato or hosta, but appreciate the fact that we're not the only species to inhabit this Earth.

Jennifer Lemier.
Midlothian.