Letters, 3/10: Sens.' gun decision upsetting

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I am appalled and angry to read (LJS, March 3) that Sens. Ben Nelson and Chuck Hagel supported a letter to the Interior Department requesting the ban on the carrying of loaded weapons in national parks be repealed in favor of local and state laws.

Sens. Nelson and Hagel have listened to the National Rifle Association about changing a 25-year ban on loaded weapons in national parks.

If the senators really believe the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to bear arms, they should publicly ask the Interior Department to specifically allow, say, grenade launchers in the new rules.  

In any case, I don’t want to visit Yellowstone National Park and come upon Dick Cheney with a loaded weapon of any kind.

Rodger Harris, Lincoln

Worry about citizens first

Last week Gov. Dave Heineman was correct about the killing of LB963 angering people. I am one of the many. I hope to be clear enough for our lawmakers to get the point.

Last week, a Nebraska legislative committee killed LB963 that would exclude illegal immigrants from receiving state benefits. I personally challenge you (state lawmakers) to start being prudent with our tax money.

What part of the word illegal do our lawmakers not understand? Illegal immigrants are breaking the law and are not entitled to benefits, period. Americans should not tolerate or be required to support the illegal immigrants whose own countries should be supporting them.

Lawmakers should understand that the money and benefits so freely given away to illegal immigrants come from us, the legal resident taxpayers of Nebraska. Lawmakers need to quit pandering to the rich special interest groups wanting cheap labor. I challenge them to start working for the quiet (so far) majority, the legal residents who elected them to office.

Illegal immigration is only one of America’s problems, but it’s as good an issue as any to start fixing. Look, I don’t want to see anyone on earth go hungry, American or otherwise. However, our country is broke and not the rich Uncle Sam of days gone by. America can no longer afford to accept and take care of the world’s poor hungry masses. We cannot currently afford to take care of ourselves, just look at our budget and trade deficits.

Ray L. Ericson, Grand Island

CROPS feeds mouths, souls

Community CROPS, a local nonprofit agency, creates opportunities for hope and renewal for refugee and low-income gardeners by providing land, water, seed, tools and organic methods of gardening.

Five years ago, this community garden program in Lincoln started with one garden on city property at 23rd and P that met the needs of just more than a dozen people. Today, this program has grown to 11 community gardens serving more than 300 refugee and low-income gardeners. Most of these gardens are managed in partnership with churches, nonprofits, landowners, businesses and the city of Lincoln.

As a result of CROPS community gardens, neighborhood residents, immigrants and refugee gardeners can provide healthy and nutritious food for their families and renew bodies and spirits through gardening.

Furthermore, the community gardens provide green zones that locals and children passing by can enjoy as oases in their community. Community CROPS not only contributes to the needs of the landless, providing hope and nutritious food, but it enables gardeners to share their skills and work to enrich the local community.

At CROPS’ 15-acre farm site, 12 farmers grow vegetables for local marketing in a beginning farmer project. CROPS staff also has worked with more than 100 Lincoln youth, developing gardens and exploring the mysteries of biology, nutrition and environmental renewal.

One of the best-kept secrets in Lincoln, this community garden network provides oases where young and old can celebrate nature and renew body and soul.

John Doran, Lincoln

What will arena really cost?

Lincoln is told by arena consultant John Kaatz that a proposed arena is financially feasible for our city. He has interviewed about a dozen unnamed event promoters who indicate to him a lot of interest in booking more Lincoln events.

The taxpayers of Lincoln are told that this makes economic sense. We are currently providing an annual operations subsidy for the debt-free and 50-year-old Pershing Center, to the tune of $525,000 per year. We might even save subsidy money, says Kaatz, because we would only subsidize the larger new arena to the possible tune of $400,000, but certainly no more than $900,000 per year. Kaatz tells us that cities justify this cost as a means of attracting out-of-towners who drop a load of cash on the city and then graciously leave.

But who are the recipients of this cash? Isn’t it the hotels and restaurants of Lincoln, certainly not the overburdened property taxpayers who must ultimately stand good for any miscalculations made by Kaatz? It would be logical to assume that a lodging tax of 10 percent on hotel rooms would be the right way to pay for this tourist enhancement, but there is already a 12 percent tax on Lincoln hotel rooms.   

If a debt-free Pershing Center costs $525,000 in annual subsidies to taxpayers, what would a facility three times as large, with a $160 million debt to retire, really cost taxpayers annually, ignoring the possibly rosy forecasts of our consultants?

Lincoln would surely benefit from the presence of a new arena if the economic forecasts of our hired consultants could refrain from pie in the sky and address themselves to the specifics of how it may be financed without breaking the backs of an overtaxed Lincoln and Nebraska citizenry.

George Pickard, Lincoln

Affirmative action is needed

Out-of-state wealth is seeking to influence our social values through the anti-affirmative-action petition drive. The proposed constitutional amendment would “prohibit discrimination or preferential treatment. …” It sounds just and fair, but its effect is to allow discrimination and racism to continue to hurt people.

I illustrate this by way of my children’s school experiences some years ago in Omaha. For two years, my children went to a school where the majority of students were black. The school had no library, inadequate help for learning disabilities and overcrowding.

This kind of situation would not have been tolerated in white, affluent west Omaha. That school is gone now, but those children are out in the work force, disadvantaged by their earlier experiences.

To help compensate for poorer educational opportunities, we need affirmative action. Affirmative action doesn’t level the playing field, but it does allow some very qualified people to compete.

Further, while you may trust your own judgment as nondiscriminatory, there is a tendency to prefer those of our own skin color and gender in hiring; we do need affirmative action.

The Rev. Jay E. Schmidt, Lincoln

‘True Americans’ all around

When I read the letter from Donald W. Hunt (“True American,” LJS, Feb. 28), my first thought was I was glad that my Grandpa Schneider (born on the way from Germany) never decided to run for office. He was a World War I vet. Maybe his being a Lutheran with a German name would have precluded “true Americans” from supporting him. JFK was a Catholic with an Irish name. Reason to not support him?

I was taught not to practice guilt by association, and that is what Hunt is doing. So what if Barack Obama’s father was once a Muslim.

Garland, Nebraska, was formerly named Germantown. They changed the name during World War I. Just because someone lived in Garland made them less of a true American?

Many people of Japanese descent were interred during World War II. Were they guilty of anything more than being Japanese?

I am proud to be the third generation of direct descendants of this blacksmith who have served and even more proud that my son is the fourth generation serving our country right now.

David L. Foster, Brainard