Letters to the Editor

Represent Confederacy with a different star

In response to Gary Johnson's fine letter, "Arkansas' flag features one too many stars," I question what resource he derived the placement of the stars on the Arkansas flag. I have had no luck locating any reference discerning each star's location, only that what the stars represent.

I am a patriotic veteran as well and agree that the Confederacy should not get top billing. To keep the historians happy and reduce a magnitude of flag replacements costing time and money, I offer a different alternative to Mr. Johnson's proposal. Of the four individual stars surrounding the word Arkansas, let the Legislature designate that the star at the bottom of the flag represents the Confederacy. This is what I always believed it was and should be, as it is pointed upside-down.

Brad Welch

Fayetteville

Trade policies hurting American towns, workers

You can thank globalization for the widening income gap between rich and poor. While where products are made matters less to the "big dogs," it is very important to American workers. That is why the big dogs keep raking it in and the little guy who does the work is left in the dust. Towns all over America that used to be relatively wealthy, vibrant communities have turned into ghost towns and slums as good manufacturing jobs have moved overseas or south of the border. For that, you have NAFTA and now the Pacific partnership to thank.

Our government is selling us out with these trade deals and making it even worse with expensive over-regulation and draconian corporate tax rates. You can add to that hoards of illegal workers filling jobs desperately needed by Americans and the strain they put on social services with their anchor babies sucking up public benefits while essentially contributing nothing.

Clinton didn't get it, Bush didn't get it, and Obama certainly didn't get it. The light at the end of the tunnel is Trump does get it. It's time to put America and American workers first again. It's time to make America great again.

Jeff Cook

Springdale

County leaders bungling War Eagle Bridge project

I just read on the front page of the Dec. 23 Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the county judge and Benton County officials will rebid repair work on the historic War Eagle Bridge.

Benton County "officials" have wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on this bridge and now they announce they failed to include in the request for bids a requirement that the bidders have previous experience with construction work on historic bridges. Are you kidding me? As a result the entire bidding process will be repeated.

I am certain the majority of Benton County residents will agree the bridge needs to be preserved, but we need some folks involved in the project that are competent and know what they are doing.

Don Cope

Rogers