LETTERS: April 25, 2008

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March 25, 2008 04:44 pm

— Reader: Work force has changed radically in his time

Regarding Robert White’s March 17, 2008, letter to the editor, he should not be surprised because the Senate Labor Committee voted against Bill 1034 that would have protected our aging population against age discrimination. The Labor Committee had two of the most powerful PACs you could think of lobbying against the bill.
Neither organization mentioned above has the interest of the average worker in mind. In fact, their titles should give their agenda away: Association of Manufacturers and a group with “commerce” at the end of the name.
When manufacturers can get aliens to work on two-year visas for half the cost of an elderly, 30-year experienced, 61 year old, not only would they jump at the chance, they would do back walkovers. They would hire the legal alien at the encouragement of the Chamber of Commerce in fact. Read the Chamber’s magazine sometime, they even break down the benefits of such hirings.
Sorry, Mr. White, but at 63, there is a world of difference in the work world and how it’s influenced now, than when I entered the work force at 21. There was no such thing as outsourcing. There was no such thing as companies moving a factory to an impoverished country, making a product and sending it to the American public at a higher cost than other similar products. And last, but not least, we did not have a Bill Gates before Congress asking that there be an increase in two-year visas, so Microsoft could make even more profit.
Protection for the elderly? Sorry, Mr. White, you would have to move to another state to be age-protected.
— Rev. Steven Fetter, Jeffersonville

Can Barack Obama be a presidential prince?

In my last Barack Obama review, I characterized him as a pollywog. My hope would be that he would morph into a presidential frog with experience in the White House; and having been kissed by his constituents, he would become a presidential prince.
I continue to have both hope as well as faith. The recent speech regarding “his” belief in our nation and its future, I continue to be encouraged.
Reviewing Mr. Obama’s speech, I would have preferred that he would have stated more accurately that our nation inherited a legacy of discrimination. The inherited legacy lasted 200 years before our nation began. My preference would have been that he would have recognized the discrimination of the Chinese, the Irish, the Japanese, and maybe most of all, the Native American Indian.
My preference would have acknowledged that Blacks were granted the right to vote decades before women were granted their right to vote. Our nation is and was established under the basis of equality, and for that we can all take pride. Our national pride in our constitution is intact. It is our personal willingness to accept what is written as meaningful. It is incumbent on all ethnic classes to accept equality that we each know as being what is “Right.” Equality is a two-way street. Equality is something that we should all desire. Our nation and our constitution has always has been the solution and never has been the problem.
After the recent speech regarding civil equality, I have heard a fear from many that he may not be the person he represents. He has done nothing to merit such an observation.
While I would have personally preferred that he would have stated things differently, the speech presented was wonderful. Mr. Obama will have a choice, once elected, to become a prince of men. Should there be shortcomings and disappointments, we must remember that it is our Congress that must approve all significant decisions. Mr. Barrack will become the person he chooses to be.
It is incumbent on each of us to make our decision for president, based on hope as well as faith. The facts will become true with time.
— Louis Girten, Clarksville