I went to the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda to visit a friend who was wounded in Afghanistan via a gunshot to his face and ended up having a major stroke. He is a member of the Special Forces of the Marines Corps. While visiting this sergeant in Bethesda, we were amazed by the stories from parents visiting their loved ones. Each story was sadder than the other, and seeing parents who have been there months while their loved ones have had 15-20 surgeries just breaks your heart. Aaron has been here at our VA hospital now for two weeks.

Congratulations to President Obama for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. The president has the opportunity to show himself as a peacemaker to the eyes of the world and reap the blessings thereof by bringing the troops home now. Afghanistan is an uncauterized wound bleeding the best of America—young men and women of the military who volunteered for a cause in which they believed, but is not attainable. Afghanistan is a country divided into tribal, ethnic, and sectarian spheres of influence. Contrary to the widely held misconception, Afghanistan has been conquered several times in the course of its history. However, in modern times the closest it has come to being one functioning political entity was while under the control of the Taliban.

Congress Should Heed Designated Rulebook
Editor, Times-Dispatch: The Founders designed the Constitution as a fair guide and set of rules for civil behavior and protection—not as a moving target at the whim of those in power. This rulebook authorizes Congress to do certain specific things. Nowhere on that list does it authorize big government to bail out banks or manage car companies. It is big government that the little guy needs protection from—not big business. The only protections available are the Constitution and the ballot box. We can blame politicians for the trampling of our liberty, but the bulk of the blame lies with us voters. Principled politicians seldom depart or cave to pressure.

Don’t Reward CEOs Receiving Bailouts
Editor, Times-Dispatch: I am writing regarding Scott Bleicher’s Correspondent of the Day Letter on Oct. 28 (“Cutting Salaries Cuts Taxes, Too”). Surely, if Bleicher is an accountant—as he proclaimed—then he must realize that cutting executive compensation at firms receiving government assistance also would result in those firms having reduced salary and benefit expenses. This in turn would create higher levels of income resulting in higher income tax receipts for federal, state, and, in some cases, local governments.

Has This Editorial Page Sipped Fox’s Kool Aid?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: I am baffled by your recent choice of Paul Knapik [“This Isn’t About Health Care At All”] for Correspondent of the Day. In an attempt to “prove” that health care is really about increased government control, and not about health care at all, Knapik wonders why we aren’t hearing about a health care system like the one that the Swiss have. He then mentions some of the features of the Swiss program: All citizens are required to have health insurance that they select and purchase themselves; the government subsidizes premiums for those who can’t afford them; and costs are kept down by competition among insurance companies. He is obviously unaware that all of these features are also in the health care plans that are being discussed in Congress. If he isn’t hearing about them, then he isn’t paying attention to what is really going on.

Bad Roads Are Worse Than Taxes
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Some things are worse than taxes—bad roads for one, and weak schools for another. The thing is though, fixing roads and improving schools can pay for themselves over time—just like replacing your old water heater with a high efficiency model will soon pay for itself.

Test for H1N1 Before Diagnosing IT
Editor, Times-Dispatch: I would like someone in the health community to explain something to me: Being a health care professional myself, I am bothered by what I am hearing from those experiencing flu-like symptoms this year. I am not denying that the H1N1 virus is running rampant in our nation but I have to wonder about the statistics.

President Barack Obama’s pay czar has declared that bonuses paid to ranking executives of companies receiving federal bailout money should be returned and that these executives should have their pay slashed. Fair enough, I suppose. But if fairness and logic are to rule inside the beltway, should not House and Senate members be forced to take a similar haircut?

Why Are We The World Police?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Does anyone feel like we are going through déjà vu? We went into Afghanistan to get Osama bin Laden. Although he is still out there giving us problems, he seems to have been put on the back burner. I am still waiting for clarification from Washington as to how President George W. Bush managed to segue from going after bin Laden to freeing Iraq.

Small Businesses Have Concerns
Editor, Times-Dispatch: As the owner of a small business with approximately 25 employees, I do my best (especially in these difficult times) to provide good benefits while watching my bottom line. I have been watching the health care debate very carefully. Make no mistake, I support many of the reforms presented in the Senate bill. However, I am concerned that while there are many good benefits, this bill would be bad for many small businesses’ bottom line.

Cutting Salaries Cuts Taxes, Too
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Please forgive me for speaking intuitively, but I’m an accountant. The Obama administration’s decision to cut executive compensation at firms receiving government assistance is the biggest hit to the economy since Jan. 20, 2009. The bonuses, salaries, and even non-cash perks these executives receive are taxed. To put that in terms President Obama might understand: He behaved stupidly. At a time when federal, state, and local governments are running at record fiscal deficits, he just elected to take money out of the coffers in order to satiate a mythical populist outrage.

This Isn’t About Health Care at All
Editor, Times-Dispatch: People are clamoring for health care reform, and they expect the government to provide it. How can any logical, clear-thinking individual believe the government can fix the problems in our health care system? The government created it, managed it, and got it where it is. Government hasn’t fixed it because health care is not the real issue.

Perhaps the best name for our new baseball team would have been the Richmond Hissy Fits, since every time something different, new, or controversial happens in our city, someone throws one. Karen Gammon.
Moseley.

Wind Offers Higher Return on Investment
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Vince Haley exaggerated the economic benefits and downplayed the risks of offshore drilling for Virginians in his recent Commentary column, “Offshore Drilling Will Create Jobs in Va.“ Offshore oil drilling threatens economic activity tied directly to Virginia’s coastline, including an estimated $3.5-billion tourism industry. A cautionary example is a huge oil spill this past August off the northern coast of Australia. The West Atlas rig blowout has dumped an estimated 400 barrels of oil into the ocean each day over the past six weeks. Can you imagine the effects of a comparable spill on Virginia’s coastline?

Marirose Pratt [“Offshore Drilling Is No Silver Bullet”] is either sadly misinformed or unwilling to acknowledge the inconvenient facts about our energy reality. Drilling off our coast is not a silver bullet, but it is silver buckshot. Virginia does have a chance to become energy independent if we put all of our resources in play.