Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

Let’s put faces on these crimes

Your editorial “Phantom ethics” exposes a little-known or recognized fact of current government practices: Staffers can submit amendments on elected officials’ behalf. Where is this mentioned in our Constitution — state or federal?

From the editorial: “More than 600 non-elected Georgia state employees [no mention of federal employees] accepted gifts despite a ban on gratuities.“ The article also says no violators have been disciplined.

These people may not be elected, but they are state employees who for some reason are not answerable to anyone — why is this? Why are government employees never accountable?

There was a related article about the mayor of Birmingham, convicted for taking bribes from a connected bank officer. The article actually listed the name of the bank person. If the mayor is finally found guilty, why is the bank person not put on trial, too? Isn’t he just as guilty? Bribery should be a crime, although I realize it is a way of life in a lot of governments here in the USA.

The employee who got a $450,000 commission for steering some computer companies to a $40 million contract — did she not sign a contract with the state of Georgia when she was hired forbidding this? She was later fired by Governor Barnes. Did she have to return this bribe, or did she get one heckuva severance? Was she ever indicted/tried for bribery or collusion? If not, why not?

Wait — don’t answer that; I already did: She is a “bulletproof” government employee.

Is this a great country or what ?

Michael Wade

Ellerslie

Put up or shut up

I have a suggestion: All top political commentators need to run for office. I say this because they seem to do such a great job of criticizing the opposition, but offer very few real solutions to the problems that they highlight. Top commentators on the Left, like Bill Maher, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, have a field day criticizing Republicans and conservatives, and top commentators on the Right — Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity — love taking apart liberals and Democrats.

But what neither side seems to offer much of is solutions to the issues we face. I refuse to believe that one side alone is to blame for all the problems that we face as a nation, but I realize that this type of commentary sells, because people tend to run to opinions that are in line with their political views. So if you are a conservative, you probably love Rush Limbaugh; if you are liberal, you probably loath him and love the likes of Keith Olbermann or Michael Moore. Yes, they often highlight some important points, but they do very little in terms of offering solutions.

The easiest thing in the world to do is play Monday morning quarterback and talk about all that is wrong with society today. It is harder to actually put yourself in a change-making position and try to enact the very principles that you claim to stand for.

So I say let them run for office. Whatever you may think of Al Franken and his liberal views, he is at least trying to make a difference and he did by running for senator in his state of Minnesota, even though he barely won. I say the rest of them need to do the same.

Stephen Akinduro

Columbus

Try telling them

Every month 500,000-plus people are losing their jobs, homes are being foreclosed on, business are going under. The GDP has risen only because of government borrowing and spending, and Obama and the White House Gang are telling us that we are coming out of recession. Bet they can’t sell that one to the folks who have no jobs and a bleak outlook for finding one. Then again, maybe they can and I missed something in this scenario.

S. Wayne Poole

Seale

Sobering statistics

While the debate on health care rages on, it concerns me that prevention efforts are not a pivotal part of the argument for reducing health care costs. According to the American Diabetes Association, the cost of diabetes for the state of Georgia in 2006 was $5,104,000,000. In 2007, the national cost exceeded $174 billion. While not all forms of diabetes are preventable, diet and exercise can play a large role in preventing Type II diabetes, which would greatly reduce health care costs at the state and national level. Left unchecked, the Center for Disease Control predicts that by 2050, diabetes rates will triple and will affect 48.3 million families.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month and a great time to learn more about the risks of diabetes and methods for prevention. I work with clients every day who are taking charge of their health by making small lifestyle changes like moderate exercise, increasing fiber, and eating more whole grains. These small changes can drastically reduce the risk of weight-related health problems — which are placing a huge burden on our health care system and on our family budgets. Investing in prevention is an investment in our future.

Claire Pearson

Metabolic Research Center, Columbus