School days

By: Letters To the editor | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: November 23, 2009

Thank you for the Griffith Academy coverage in the Nov. 14 Journal ("Schoolhouse Shuffle"). The pictures and information about our old school were very heart-warming to me. I can still see Lena Godwin, Herm Griffin, Sarah Hunter and Mr. Kuykendall presiding over the school.

I just moved back to the area after leaving Winston-Salem 53 years ago. This story meant a lot to this alumnus of the class of 1956.

JOHN T. McKEOWN

Advance

A terrible bill

Some of the writers to this forum have called Rep. Virginia Foxx's vote against the Affordable Health Care for America Act partisan politics. I wonder what they are calling the votes of the 39 Democrats who had the courage to vote against the bill.

Rep. Foxx voted against this bill because it is a terrible bill. Editorially, The Wall Street Journal said this bill may well be the worst piece of post-New Deal legislation ever introduced ("The Worst Bill Ever," Nov. 1). It will not accomplish what the title indicates it should. Instead, it will lower the quality of care, raise taxes, increase the deficit, increase premiums, kill jobs and probably cause rationing of care.

I challenge the supporters of this bill to do their own research. They shouldn't believe what they are being told by the current administration. They can go to the Internet, do a Google search on the bill and see for themselves.

VON B. HAMRICK

Winston-Salem

Extremely fortunate

The citizens of Forsyth County are extremely fortunate to have Assistant District Attorney Jim O'Neill appointed to succeed Tom Keith as district attorney ("Keith to retire as DA," Nov. 18). Colleagues and adversaries agree that Jim is more than well qualified. Always demonstrating unquestionable integrity, he is undoubtedly the best choice for district attorney; a true steward of the public trust.

Serving as DA is a difficult job and often a thankless one. Jim will serve with honor.

CHRIS BEECHLER

Winston-Salem

The rest of us

You could have expanded your editorial on college kids not understanding debt ("Teaching financial literacy," Nov. 17) to include the rest of us in the United States. As if any of us in our right minds could even comprehend the amount of our national debt.

Former President George Bush may have got us started, but he was a piker compared to what we have now. Oh, yes, we'll raise taxes on the rich. Aren't those the ones we just bailed out?

With universal health care, at least we'll have some help while we're on the dole -- I guess we could take turns. Any way, we old ones will be gone and just the young ones who don't understand debt will be left.

I'd like to apologize in advance to the young people because I really didn't want to do this to them.

SUSAN I. RUDD

Winston-Salem

Submission contents

Your editors need to be a bit more discerning in reviewing the content of submissions. The Nov. 18 letter "Pray for Obama" was a wolf in sheep's clothing. The writer ladles out loads of hogwash about his respect for the office of the president and wraps it in steaming mounds of false piety, even throwing in an unsubstantiated claim of the president's "cozy relationship with radical Islamic heads of state."

The proof in this pudding is the reference to Psalm 109:8, which is the latest cutesy bumper sticker for the Tea Party members: "Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8."

Psalm 109:8 reads, "May his days be few. May another take his place of leadership."

The readers' forum should be more than a platform for snide cynicism.

RICHARD ANDERSON

Deep Gap

Root of the problem

Thank you for your Nov. 17 editorial "Teaching financial literacy." Yes, our children need more instruction on how to manage money. But let's go beyond, and get to the root of the problem: Congress needs the same instruction. Four decades of deficit spending has created a culture of debt, and millions of Americans see debt as a natural phenomenon. This accumulated debt is the real source of our current economic problems.

I urge the Journal to hold accountable any member of Congress who persists in spending money that does not exist.

DAVID RIGBY

Winston-Salem