Loop 666

Bravo for your June 14 front-page story written by Lowell Brown about the Loop 288 saga, a route I’ve suggested in the past should be rededicated as Loop 666.

I’m from the St. Louis, Mo., area originally. Growing up there 50 years ago exposed me to a road construction legend contractor named Fred Weber.

Weber was all business. He posted signs adjacent to the road work: “Watch the road, not the construction.” Once the NAACP came into his office demanding Weber add a certain percentage of minorities to the payroll.

The VP of personnel went over the list of employees, then asked the NAACP person which five presently employed minority employees of the firm should be dismissed? They were not, of course, and that was the end to that.

Weber’s modus operandi should be adopted here: He agreed to be fined for every day late the project was completed, but for every day the job was completed early, his company received a bonus.

This must be still be the case because recently, my last visit up there for a death in the family, a road I traveled to get to my hometown had been improved by Fred Weber.

The sign said it all. “Promised completion date Spring 2009; completed October 2008.”

Imagine something like happening on Loop 288?

Roger T. Horrell,

Denton

Failing to sell his policies

Rasmussen most accurately predicted the 2008 election results, so I will use their current projections. It turns out that Rasmussen currently has Obama at 56 on June 18. On Jan. 21, his approval rating was at 65. Bush was at 54 in June of 2001.

But the real story goes beyond Obama’s approval rating. It goes to leadership skills and his ability to convince others that he is right and to follow him. We saw some of that during the campaign, but now that the election is over, what are we seeing?

Concerning the economy, the Republicans are now more trusted to fix the following problems. Economy by a 45-to-39 margin; Iraq, by 45 to 37; handling of taxes, 44 to 39. National security, government ethics and immigration are all issues the voters also trust the GOP to handle better.

Only 38 of those polled say the U.S. is heading in the right direction.

Apparently this president isn’t doing as good a job of selling his policies to the American people as some would lead us to believe. Isn’t that the measure of a good leader?

David Mollen,

Denton

Withholding prices affects us all

The Dallas Morning News had a very good article about sales prices not being shown in the Multiple Listing Service. This affects everyone. Your taxes are dependent on accurate valuations.

With sales prices being undisclosed, significant price reductions are not being reflected in the MLS, and [this] artificially inflates tax values. Further, there is a law that forbids the disclosure of the sales that the tax district uses in the valuation of your property, so you are denied accurate values to appeal your tax valuations.

Finally, it took an act of the Legislature to get short sales, foreclosures and other lower-end sales to be included in tax valuation analyses, again inflating your tax valuations.

Contact your senator and representative and urge that all sales be disclosed. The only ones who really benefit are high-dollar homeowners and commercial property owners.

The ordinary taxpayer is paying way too much in taxes, while these property owners are paying less than their fair share of the taxes.

Roger Strahan,

Denton

Answers

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just now issued their report warning not only of future but present dangers of global warming and climate change. They have a lot more credibility than you do, Roger Horrell [Letters, June 17].

Also, you didn’t believe that waterboarding was torture. We executed combatants for that. Somebody recently volunteered to be waterboarded to see for himself. He came out saying it was definitely torture. Maybe you ought to volunteer to be waterboarded, Roger.

You said furnish us with other countries’ statements condemning torture. In my letter entitled “Torture” [Letters, May 20], I specifically said that during WWII bombings of London, Winston Churchill said we will not torture. Pay attention, Roger.

Next patient: Wayne Lasater, you praised Franklin Roosevelt [Letters, June 14] for Social Security. Thank you. Does that mean I can call you a socialist from now on? We have other socialist programs: schools (I don’t have kids but I paid for your kids’ education), police, firefighting, the military.

Then you said that WWII was the sole reason for the recovery, that federal programs in the ’30s were mostly for show and political propaganda. Tell that to the descendants of millions of men and women whose lives were saved by honest work in WPA and CCC.

Jim Stodola,

Denton