No reduction in need
Recently in the Democrat-Gazette there was an article concerning SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). It seems that benefits have been cut to 25,000 persons in Arkansas due to new federal requirements; it appeared from the article that this was pleasing to our new administration here in the home state.
I believe this is only the tip of the iceberg in reduction of many needed services both in Arkansas and across the nation.
Tell me how it could be a good thing to deny people food in a poor state where people are going to bed hungry. The article also mentioned that 25 counties were eligible for waivers from the requirements due to unemployment rates. However, the governor chose not to seek such waivers.
I challenge our administration to check with the local food banks and agencies that serve those in need to see if they have noted any decline in need. I am so thankful that I belong to St. James United Methodist Church. We collect food year-round, not just on holidays. We participate in Under the Bridge Ministry where the homeless are fed and given other necessities. Our youth participate in the Ozark Mission Project each year, and on and on. Our church is not unique in this type of mission work; many houses of worship in the area do the same.
My prayer for those of you who are celebrating this reduction in services is that you never find yourself hungry, jobless or without a home. However, if you do, contact your local houses of worship where ordinary citizens are doing what our government refuses to do.
ANNETTE WILLIAMS
Little Rock
Should be in support
I agree wholeheartedly with state Sen. Jason Rapert's guest column in last Sunday's Democrat-Gazette, "Support for the Capitol monument." I believe one of the most important things we have inherited are the Ten Commandments. Every American should be in full support of them and remind our families, friends, neighbors and other state citizens of the importance of supporting them. I wish every state resident would read his column and also be in favor.
KEITH H. BROWN
Hot Springs Village
Didn't salute the flag
Did anyone besides me notice the front page of Tuesday's paper? The Arkansas State Police honor guard posted the colors and it appears at least four of the legislators didn't bother to honor our flag by putting their right hand over their heart.
So very sad.
HARRIET KLEINHOFS
North Little Rock
Investigate any links
I am writing as a very concerned citizen. It is being reported that the FBI is conducting an investigation into Mr. Donald Trump's ties to Russia and Vladimir Putin, and whether or not Putin has compromising video and audio of Mr. Trump.
I support Senators John McCain's and Lindsey Graham's request of an independent congressional select committee to investigate these disturbing allegations. I hope Arkansas Republicans and Democrats will support McCain's and Graham's efforts in the Senate, and hope the same will be done in the House of Representatives.
I was an intelligence specialist in the U.S. Navy 20 years ago. I support the intelligence community wholeheartedly, and I do not want to see a U.S. president of any party dismantle or accuse the intelligence community of being "Nazi Germany," and for a president to side with a dictator of our greatest enemy for the past 80 years.
I implore all Arkansans to call our senators and congressmen to prevent our country from being coerced and controlled by our enemies.
PATRICK GRAY
Cabot
Speaking truth to all
The Bradley Gitz op-ed, "The fragility of democracy" is nothing more than right-wing elitist fundamentalism.
He references Plato and Aristotle as if either could have conceived, 2,300 years ago, of the massive economic power structures that have usurped not just our country's government, but those of the rest of the world. Neither could have imagined a weapon of such destructive power that it threatens to obliterate our entire species in just an hour or two. Neither could have understood that the biosphere we depend on for our very existence is now turning against us.
No, Mr. Gitz only concedes to a democratic U.S. government when it suits his purpose. Otherwise it's the usual "We're a republic, not a democracy" drivel, as if the two concepts were antithetical.
Newsflash, Mr. Gitz. We're not a democracy, and haven't been for decades. I believe there's not a single institution in this country that can be called democratic anymore. The real centers of power now reside with the 1 percent, with the huge corporations and multinationals. They despise "the masses" and care only about how far they can exploit us and the environment before the inevitable happens.
Bradley Gitz, with his oh-so-erudite creds, continues to feed "the masses" the untruth that being given a choice between one corporate brand or another somehow constitutes democracy.
What he calls "cynicism" and "the aura of world-weariness," I call "speaking truth to the people." Someone has to do it. Bradley Gitz certainly isn't.
BRAD BAILEY
Fayetteville
Trees critical to state
As a former chairman and member of the Maumelle Tree Board, I want to thank State Forester Joe Fox for his illuminating guest column about the positive economic and environmental benefits of Arkansas' forests and the necessity to keep our forests as forests to sustain our state's economic growth.
This mission has been in the forefront of the Arkansas timber industry since the late 19th century when my Iowa grandfather, Herbert C. Rule, and collaborators came to Arkansas to develop timberland in south Arkansas and later founded the Crossett Lumber Co. He was instrumental in bringing the Yale School of Forestry to Crossett and following their advice about the then-new strategy of reforestation. Clear-cutting and moving on no longer made economic sense.
Trees are also a critical element to the health and beauty of our urban environments. I am proud to participate in the Arbor Day Foundation's Tree City program and appreciate the support the Maumelle Tree Board has consistently received from the Arkansas Forestry Department headed by Joe Fox!
JIM RULE
Maumelle
Editorial on 01/16/2017