Letters, 8/25: Enough is enough!

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Our family moved here from the East Coast four years ago. Lincoln is a great place to live and raise a family. Its safety, parks and schools have much to offer the community.

In comparing our move, we noticed right away that Lincoln’s property tax was much higher than what we were paying back home. Our West Virginia property on the fringe of the city was just more than three acres compared to living on a typical lot size within Lincoln. Adjusting to smaller land was easy, but it wasn’t that way with paying higher property taxes, about $500 a year there compared with close to $4,000 here.

We justified the higher property tax expense as a cost of living within the city, good schools, roads and recreational parks and trails. What we are having trouble understanding is that for every year but one our property tax has increased. We were not prepared for having our property tax increase three of four years, compared with every five years back east.

I don’t know what is driving the property tax increase pre- and post-fuel surge. Are we outgrowing ourselves? Are we planning too much growth without evaluating the burden of maintaining?

Exorbitant fuel costs are driving up prices on every product and service. In times when businesses and families are seriously feeling the financial squeeze, our county leadership may compound the squeeze by increasing our property taxes once again. I say, enough is enough!

Heath Clay, Lincoln

Pension not set by county

I see in the Aug. 20 Journal Star that Lincoln’s own version of Ebenezer Scrooge, Coby Mach and the Lincoln Independent Business Association, once again is attempting to talk a government entity into reducing the pension match of its bargaining unit employees. Coby Mach and LIBA appeared at the County Board meeting and spoke out against the current county budget on the basis that it contains funding for a 1.5-to-1 ratio match of the county employee retirement contributions. Coby Mach suggested the County Board should reduce the match to 1 to 1.

Coby Mach should know that the 1.5 pension match is set by state statute, not by the County Board.

As the interminable budget woes of the city of Lincoln show, the county does a lot better job of handling its budget and finances than the city. Perhaps Coby Mach and LIBA ought to focus their budget-cutting attention on the city plan to provide subsidies to new and existing home buyers in Lincoln.

Melvin Moore, president,

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2468

Sin has consequences

I’m writing in response to Holly Lafferty’s column (LJS, Aug. 16) regarding Christians and homosexual marriage. I have several problems with her comments.

Liberals love to trot out the verse from the Bible she quoted: “Judge not, that you may not be judged.” She infers that this means we aren’t to make any determination of right or wrong. I do not have to make a judgment of what is right and what is wrong. The Bible tells us what is right and what is wrong, and it clearly states that any form of sexual activity outside of marriage (between a man and a woman) is sin.

I realize that this term is considered by some to be out of date, but I find it particularly descriptive and fitting. The Bible also tells us that homosexuality is an abomination. If our behavior is to be governed by what each person thinks is right or wrong, we have lost the moral cohesion on which our great country was built.

Lafferty goes on to quote Jesus and the two great commandments. The first is to love the Lord with all of your heart. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Let’s think about these. Is it loving God to make up your own rules and tell Him that His rules don’t suit you? Isn’t this in truth rebellion? And let’s look at loving our neighbor. Love has many facets, but many seem to think “do whatever you want, and it’s all right.” But is it all right? Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, God’s law was instituted to spare humanity the plague of AIDS? Is it love to tell people it’s all right, or is it love to tell them that they are committing sin that will destroy them? Sin has consequences, whether it’s adultery, homosexuality, you name it.

Galatians 6:7 says: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.” We can have forgiveness through Jesus Christ, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t have to suffer the consequences of our actions in this life.

Dorothy Westphal, Lincoln

Citizenship rights at birth

Minister Rick Warren, in his Saddleback Church Forum a week ago, queried John McCain and Barack Obama with a question that should have been easily answered: At what point does a baby receive human rights? Neither candidate answered from the standpoint of the Constitution, which reveals the answer in Amendment 14, Section 1. The answer should have been “at birth.”

McCain offered a moral and philosophical response, pushing the point of rights all the way back to conception, something the Constitution does not itself guarantee. Obama’s response, however, revealed an astonishing shallowness of intellect, that he couldn’t answer the question with specifity because it was above his “pay grade.”

Perhaps Mr. Obama retreated from the question because he is on record, in Illinois, of not voting to prevent infanticide relative to born infants who had survived abortion procedures. The nuances of his opposition to a bill defending such infants is irrelevant, for the fact is that birth, under whatever conditions, assigns to these little persons constitutional rights of citizens.

That both candidates seemed ignorant of the Constitution in respect to Warren’s question is troubling. That one candidate had no clue as to how to answer so basic a question regarding human rights is a bit spooky and is certainly incompatible with the alleged great intellect said to be possessed by Mr. Obama.

Richard Terrell, Lincoln

Vets seek help, not buildings

I cannot speak for each and every veteran or service member, but here are some conclusions that I came to during the Wellness Conference in Omaha on Aug. 16:

The Veterans Administration, Nebraska politicians and civilians need to stop focusing on what they can build to make the VA look better or how they can get money for construction companies in Nebraska. We understand that your motivation is to help us, but we would rather you stop construction and hire more VA staff to help us. We would like to see a reduction in the length of lines. We have waited in too many lines. We want more service; pretty buildings are just cosmetic.

Our service members appreciate your concern for veterans of the war on terror, but please do not forget the veterans who have served in other U.S. conflicts. Rather than shiny new buildings, our service members would like to see more veterans and service members qualify for care through the Veterans Administration. This means spending more money on VA caregivers and staff.

The Nebraska National Guard is not only as good as the regular Army or Air Force, they are better than that. We are … the Nebraska National Guard! Many of our members came from active duty with the Marines, Army, Air Force and Navy. We offer a deeper experience of patriotism than anyone in America could rightfully expect from any unit or individual. God Bless America and Go Big Red!

Wilfred F. Marks, sergeant first class,

Lincoln, retired