Letters

Forsaken by citizens

John Kerry reminds me of a mouse on a wheel running--running but getting nowhere. He scurries from country to country as if the hounds of hell were after him, and they probably are, but is finding no solutions to the ongoing world problems because they are beyond any simple wisdom of man.

I believe the God who created this nation and placed it on these shores with moral principles to follow has been largely forsaken by its citizens. We can debate the truths of its beginning until the end of time, but we see the results of this departure every day. We blame the erratic deadly weather on global warming, crime and killings on guns and mental illness, and the blame game continues on with no solutions while the answer stares us in the face.

Our creator has warned that the nations that forget him will soon perish and this has been proven over and over through eons of time. I think we as a nation, from the top on down, must return to him and he will return to us. It's as simple as that. Leadership of one nation that adheres to this wisdom will find resolution in global issues. After all, our God is the sovereign creator of all nations.

WILLA ROMINE

Bryant

Hard living long ago

I read that people haven't always had fruits and vegetables all year round. I wonder how they survived.

Do you think they just had to wait until they found a wild animal to live on, as one man said his wife's family had to do when they came to Arkansas years ago? To dry and can food they had to have containers, and containers weren't always available.

ALICE ANN LONG

Russellville

The chirp of crickets

Why does Sen. Mark Pryor refuse to accept a debate with Congressman Tom Cotton? Congressman Cotton has now accepted three invitations to debate Senator Pryor, but we have heard nothing but crickets from the Pryor campaign.

Since Senator Pryor apparently is unwilling to debate Congressman Cotton, maybe he could ask President Barack Obama to stand in for him. After all, I think we would hear the same thing from either man.

JEREMY RAGLAND

Harrison

Ease parking headache

City and business leaders are about to eat the fattened Golden Goose that laid the golden egg called Little Rock River Market growth with overdevelopment and lack of close parking.

Traffic, even early on a Saturday afternoon, is just awful. What's even worse is parking, especially for handicapped drivers and motorcyclists. To say the least, handicapped spots don't appear to exist in any shape or size, nor do they seem to match what would be required at any big-box store, stadium or other location that draws a lot of people.

There's a couple of simple solutions that Little Rock could do easily. The city needs to limit, or ban, parking on President Clinton Boulevard and other downtown streets near tourist attractions to just handicapped drivers and motorcyclists in front of a couple of bars. You could even save the first and last spot on each block for unloading passengers.

Elderly and middle-aged people have the money to be tourists, but is Little Rock doing its best to attract them? I and several handicapped friends decided against going to a concert recently because of the lack of available handicapped parking close to the event.

The city could put parking meters in Riverfront Park's parking area and limit people to 60 to 90 minutes during the week and weekend afternoons. Let's create more turnover and generate business for the city's parking decks.

Handicapped drivers shouldn't have to huff and puff to hoof it a couple of blocks to enjoy the River Market, concerts in the park and other downtown attractions. Do Little Rock officials want to be the cause of a handicapped driver dying after a heart attack?

KEITH WEBER

Jacksonville

Not in best interests

I'm perplexed by those who vote against their best interests. Some vote one issue--abortion, guns, LGBT, immigration. What about important things that affect their lives every day? Clean air and water. Across party lines, people agree government should protect our water and air, yet it seems those who want protection tend to vote for a candidate that would do away with it. Consider seniors who vote for candidates who would destroy Medicare.

Where is the concern about predatory banks and corporations that don't pay taxes? Taxes pay for our fire departments and roads, but some candidates would have private companies own them and leave us to pay tolls to use them. Libraries, schools and many things are taken for granted, yet aren't considered when votes are cast. It is a seeming suicide of our democratic system.

The Tea Party claims to be conservative Republicans. Are they? It seems everything the Tea Party faction in the House pushes is libertarian. A conservative maintains the status quo with cautious movement forward; libertarians want central government restricted to the military, police and courts.

The Tea Party was started and largely promoted by the Koch brothers, who are libertarians. David Koch ran on a libertarian platform for vice president in 1980. Part of his platform had to do with scrapping Social Security and Medicare.

Today, it appears Congress wants to privatize and use vouchers and do away with the EPA, public education and regulations on business. All else should be controlled by state and local governments.

Was this the intention of the founders of our country in forming our constitutional government of, by and for the people?

ELIZABETH FOSTER and JUDY ZITKO

Hot Springs Village

Rough roads in Rock

As a taxpaying citizen of Little Rock I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed about the condition of our streets. Do our leaders(?) ever get out of their offices and take in what is going on in our great city? I will gladly take them for a ride in my truck so they can experience firsthand the teeth-jarring, bone-rattling experience I get on my daily commute to work.

Mr. Mayor, when can we expect some relief? This is not the first time I've written about this, and the way the city progresses in this endeavor, it won't be the last.

WALTER TUCKER

Little Rock

Editorial on 07/03/2014

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