Voters and the elected
Looking at so many of our country's officeholders and thinking wishfully about characteristics of people we'd like to see in office, I made a list.
We need leaders who are wise enough to know they must constantly learn, strong enough to be patient when necessary, and courageous enough to practice compassion whenever possible.
What would we, the voters, need to be able to choose such people? We would need discipline enough to dig for real information instead of swallowing catchphrases, and vision enough to act on something better than misguided fear and anger.
CHARLEY SANDAGE
Mountain View
Lives lost outside war
Watching tributes this past Memorial Day of those fallen in battle caused me to reflect on an incident on Dec. 23, 1957, when on a night-training exercise, a WV-2 Radar Super Constellation, attached to Navy squadron VW 14, plummeted into the sea off the coast of Hawaii.
This was an Airborne Warning and Control aircraft and carried a crew of 23 consisting of flight crews and radar and electronic specialists. These type squadrons flew from Midway Island to the tip of the Aleutians every four hours, 365 days a year, for 14- to 16-hour flights. These flights were an extension of the Distant Early Warning line which stretched across northern Canada and was designed to identify and intercept the potential threat of Russian aircraft over the North Pole. I was attached to squadron VW 12 as an Airborne Combat Information Center officer, and a sister squadron to VW 14.
That fateful night, 19 crew members perished in the Pacific Ocean. The four that were rescued spent nine hours in the water.
It is right and just that we pay homage to the brave souls lost due to hostilities, but I sometimes think we tend to ultimately overlook incidents such as this; lives lost in training or non-hostile yet deadly military activities. I'm not aware of any ongoing recognition of such lives lost outside battle, but theirs are just as precious to their families and they are just as dead in the service of their country as those who fell in combat. Perhaps it is time recognition of such sacrifice be more formalized.
JAMES H. BARRÉ
Little Rock
On various opinions
I would hope that Mr. Robert Best realized that the opinion section of any decent newspaper offers various and sundry opinions and views on any range of subjects. Some opinions are adept and critical, others casual yet pertinent.
It's like the "funny papers." Some comic strips are adolescent, and some are sophisticated. If Pearls Before Swine is over your head, just drop down to Dennis The Menace ... no need for a dictionary with Dennis.
I enjoyed Philip Martin's column "Up to a point, sir," and I like to read all the editorials and opinions regardless of my political preference because I think it's important to know how the other side feels and reacts to my askew point of view. Sometimes I require a dictionary. So what?
My advice to Mr. Best is to stick to Fox News and maybe subscribe to the Wall Street Journal.
PHILLIP CORRELL
Little Rock
CBO forecasts reliable
At the Little Rock town hall held by Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. French Hill in April, Senator Cotton pledged to withhold support for any health-care overhaul that would harm more Arkansans than it helped. However, now that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has scored the House GOP health-care bill, projecting that 23 million people would lose coverage over the next 10 years, Senator Cotton's office, as reported in this newspaper, has questioned the accuracy of the CBO's figures, citing the CBO score for Obamacare as proof of its failure to provide accurate estimates.
According to an article written by factcheck.org, the CBO estimates for the impact of Obamacare were reasonably accurate, and better than those from other forecasters, including the Obama administration. For example, the CBO predicted that, with Obamacare, in 2016 89 percent of people under 65 would be covered in 2016; the actual percentage for the first nine months of 2016 was 89.7 percent. The only reason I can see for Cotton's office to question the legitimacy of the CBO estimates is to allow him an out when the Senate bill that he is helping to craft does, indeed, produce a CBO score that would harm more Arkansans than it helps. I predict that you will see other GOP sources cast doubt on the accuracy of the CBO estimates as they try to convince the public that they can replace Obamacare with a bill that will not hurt more people than it helps.
Facts are facts even if they do not support the narrative policymakers want. Past experience has shown that the CBO forecasts are as good as any and should be relied upon for policy decisions. Hold Senator Cotton accountable to his promise and always check the facts!
JANET STEWART
Little Rock
It is all about people
Re John Brummett's column "It's about the people": The title is good; that's what got Trump elected--the people. Trump's message of jobs, immigration and security of the nation, health care, and tax reform.
The do-nothing Congress' message is the Russian investigation, nothing about jobs. My message to these clowns: The people do not care about the Russian investigation; they want good-paying jobs to support their families, and security of the nation, and not like Europe--open borders and mass killings by Islamic terrorists.
Both sides of the aisle have blocked taking up Trump's agenda. Both sides of the aisle are not used to a businessman being in charge and working for the people.
My message is to get on board with Trump's agenda for the people, or be given a pink slip and told you're fired come November 2018.
Yes, I voted for Trump.
BILL SCHEIDERER
Forrest City
Editorial on 06/01/2017