LETTERS

LITTLE ROCK — Makeover vital for prison system

It is time to take a hard look at our prison system.

I'm not speaking to conditions as much as security. Most of the time, we house state prisoners in county or municipal jails because of overcrowding in the state penal system. More and more we read about some criminal escaping, putting the public at risk. Now I read about some prisoners wanting a class-action lawsuit because they are complaining that to serve 70 percent of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole is unconstitutional.

Here's a novel idea: Let the business community and individual taxpayers contribute with no cap on them into a special fund as a write-off to build a single state prison that could house up to 25,000 inmates. Make this facility the standard of a federal super-max prison housing the most vicious, violent criminals.

Change the law to require 100 percent of the sentence to be served. Life imprisonment should mean that, life. If a sentence of 25 years is imposed, 25 years should be served. Utilize the current prison facilities for those inmates convicted of non-violent crimes and let them serve the 70 percent requirement of their sentence to be eligible for parole.

Many may not realize it, but we do have an emergency fund that very well may be over $1 billion that can be used as well. I think that our best approach to combating crime is to make the time to be served undesirable to the criminal element.

MARK PHILLIPS Jacksonville Strategy good for life

Early childhood education holds enormous benefits for children, families and communities, as your recent story on Fight Crime: Invest In Kids points out. Arkansas has been a leader in this field for nearly 30 years through our outstanding state Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, or HIPPY, program, currently serving 45 Arkansas communities with home-based services that create school readiness and early literacy skills.

Parents of HIPPY children are direct beneficiaries of early childhood education efforts. As they learn howto become their child's first teacher, disadvantaged and low-income adults become more involved in schools, show lower levels of abuse and depression, and gain proficiencies that help them enter the workforce. Households with these qualities are more likely to produce children who obey the law, complete their education and become responsible citizens.

In 2007, HIPPY USA relocated to Arkansas from New York. From our headquarters on the campus of Arkansas Children's Hospital, we are currently working in 23 states and reach some 16,000 children annually. Our local partners include public schools, hospitals and community-based organizations. Our motto, "A love of learning begins at home," reflects our core belief that early childhood and preschool education is a proven and effective strategy to start children on a positive track in life.

MARVIN SCHWARTZ Little Rock Debates are helpful

Normally, I never feel inclined to write letters to the editor, but they are definitely educational and sometimes amusing to read. However, I would like clarification on one recent letter.

Why was the author disturbed about religious debates? I would encourage more debate because that provides me with a clearer picture of the differences of various religious beliefs and it helps me decide which one to follow.

Bottom line: As an American citizen, I am happy to know that we have freedom of religion and freedom of the press.

HAROLD L. BROOKS Hot Springs Fix the problem now

The reasons for health care reform are not complicated. For too long we have ignored and put off much-needed improvements to our health care system. Medical expenses are a leading cause of bankruptcy filings in the U.S. As we all know, these problems are not going to fix themselves.

We as a nation are all in this together. The moment is at hand to pass legislation that will provide all of us with accessible, affordable health care. The United States is a champion of freedom and moral courage around the world. How can we continue to claim this status if we are willing to turn a blind eye to our own brothers and sisters suffering from lack of basic health care?

I have heard a lot of talk about change in the past year, but change in health care cost and delivery is something that must be addressed now. It's time that the U.S. health care system is as good as its people.

NANCY FIRMIN Fayetteville Show sparks interest

A recent rerun of "60 Minutes" was really an eye opener. In 1907, Congress passed a law doing away with bucket trading. This helped cause the stock market crash. This law that was passed had worked well for the purpose it was intended for 92 years. Then in 2000 our esteemed Congress gave an exemption to Wall Street to start trading derivatives such as credit default swaps, which were not regulated, thus not having any money in reserves to pay off bad debts.

It would be interesting to know how our representatives and senators voted on this basic cause of our economy's collapse and the debt we are ringing up to pay for these boneheads.

JIMMIE SOLOMON North Little Rock Bill raises questions

My thanks to U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln for her stand on card-check legislation as it is presented. It would truly be silly to vote for a slogan without any of the other particulars of any bill. For instance, how beholden to its international is any union? I know that the United Farm Workers of America conducts its elections in accordance with the UFW International, so the international gets a piece of all local dues, but can it dictate the local union elections?

What effect does card-check have on the right-to-work laws of the various states? Will government entities be exempt? Will contracted work be exempted or included? Will the "work at will" like we have in Arkansas be overturned?

Are unions going to be able to set up operations outside of seniority work rules and wages and use member dues and outside donor gifts to further the political aims of the union no matter which of the powers are running the government?

To end, who is going to hear the complaints? Shouldn't card check be a two-way street? If 50 percent of the card signers can start a union, shouldn't 50 percent of the card signers be able to decertify a union or change from UFW to the Teamsters by this same method? Are workers obligated to take the first union offer or can they shop around before using their card check? Do union bosses still have to take a loyalty oath in the U.S.?

JAMES M. FAUST Bentonville Presidential disaster

As hard as it is to believe, a year ago George W. Bush introduced pure socialism into this country, total control of the banking system, mortgage industry, insurance and auto companies to prevent a depression of unprecedented magnitude. Why?

We have to go back to 1981 when an aggressive president and pliant Congress reversed the progressive tax code, began deregulating business, and cut taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations.

The power of special interests, greed and a disinterested public continued to pull us in that direction. Tax cuts for business, loopholes, deregulation, tax havens and benefits to send our basic businesses off shore were all part of our profile. We continued to give tax breaks to the wealthy and encouraged the public to become indebted to their detriment.

What happened? In 2008, we were totally leveraged. Our national debt is now over $11.8 trillion. Bush's socialism was right, but he left President Obama with a fiscal disaster. We have to fix health care and rewrite our tax code to protect our grandchildren.

BOB WATERS Hot Springs Village