Letters in the Editor's Mailbag.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Something for nothing

Every day it seems I read on the front page of The Register-Guard about another school board that says it is going to cut the teaching staff and reduce the length of the school year if the proposed income tax surcharge fails. Meanwhile, letters to the editor routinely state that the state coffers are awash in money, that it's just a matter of cutting the fat out of the school and state budgets.

My gosh! Can't we introduce the school and state administrators with budget problems to those letter writers who have the answers? If I were an administrator struggling with teacher layoffs and a shorter school year, I certainly would invite all those who have the solutions to school board meetings, particularly those folks who can identify the fat.

The proposed tax increase affects only single taxpayers with incomes greater than $8,500, married couples and single parents with children having incomes greater than $16,000, and retired couples with taxable income greater than $19,000. I would think that voters with incomes less than these amounts would turn out in droves. Here is their chance to vote to receive something for nothing and to continue to receive services that will otherwise be cut.

BOB BOTTGE Eugene

Of governors and taverns

I read the Dec. 29 story about how our new beer-drinking governor is going to get out and meet the people of Oregon. I hope he can stay sober enough to get the job done.

I didn't vote for Kulongoski, not because he's a Democrat, nor did I know about his beer drinking. I voted for Mannix because I could pronounce his name, and, of course, he was a Republican. I can't help that now.

As for our new governor talking about his tavern time and his basement supply of beer, he might want to stop and think about all the recovering alcoholics out there who might have a lesser opinion of where one might have to go to meet the governor when he's touring the state.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the next four years bring us.

JIM HALLENBERGER Eugene

One tubby's resolution

There are many people in Eugene who go hungry every day. I am about 20 percent overweight. Some of our local officials could go on a month's vacation without food. The solution is for all of us fatties to eat about 25 percent less food.

As motivation to stay on this diet, I plan to give the extra money instead to agencies like FOOD for Lane County. This is not a cure for hunger in Eugene, but someone will be getting 25 percent more food who is hungry in a state that leads the country in unemployment and hunger. And tubbies like me will lose some lard.

GENE THOMPSON Eugene

FDA is dictatorial

A front-page story in the Dec. 28 Register-Guard quotes a White House spokesman as saying that the apparent cloning hoax "underscores the need for the new Congress to act ... to ban all human cloning." This is absurd. Clone or not, a healthy infant birth is no crisis, nor is it cause for an act of Congress to prevent such things in the future. Beyond that, the work in question allegedly took place outside the United States, so how would a federal law have changed anything?

The White House can't be serious, because it treats Congress as superfluous. The Food and Drug Administration has already forbidden human cloning except with its specific approval. Unelected bureaucrats dictate in a mere "letter" a restriction supposedly entrusted to state legislatures. A ban like this goes beyond what the federal government can possibly be authorized to prohibit.

An agency created to assure truthful labeling of foods and drugs now brazenly disallows scientific research. These FDA actions are outrageous; they demonstrate that the FDA wields tyrannical and dictatorial power. The problems with human cloning are obscure and remote by comparison.

TRACY BRUCE HARMS Cottage Grove 

Not 'hate radio'

I feel the Donald P. Richey and Lou Willcox (letters, Dec. 29) were very perceptive. The Michael Savage radio show is obnoxious at times, but it wasn't "hate radio." I agree that KUGN-AM radio succumbed to societal pressure and that the University of Oregon villagers do not put their "diversity" into practice.

At least 80 percent of the mainstream media have a liberal slant. Just turn on CNN, MSNBC and all major television networks, or read The New York Times or our local Red Guard. The liberal fervor is dominant. You would think those favoring this narrow-minded affiliation would accept the notion that opposing viewpoints might be a positive educational basis for debate. But who thinks about hypocrisy?

BILL HARRISON Eugene

CAPTION(S):

The Register-Guard welcomes letters on topics of general interest. Our length limit is 250 words; all letters are subject to condensation. Writers are limited to one letter per calendar month. Because of the volume of mail, not all letters can be printed. Letters must be signed with the writer's full name. An address and daytime telephone number are needed for verification purposes; this information will not be published or released. Mail letters to Mailbag, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2188 Fax: [phone] E-mail: [e-mail]