LB849 (Gov. Dave Heineman’s tax cut bill) would save me $40 a year! Wow, what a deal!

LB806 as proposed by Sen. Dave Landis makes the most sense to me. I would see it every year when I register a vehicle, and I have three to register.

It’s ridiculous the amount of money we pay just to register a vehicle in Nebraska. We pay for a vehicle and pay and pay! Most, if not all, Nebraskans would appreciate this kind of a tax cut. It would be the tax cut that almost everybody could participate in!

This just might help keep the retirees in Nebraska instead of moving to Arizona or Arkansas.

Dick Gray, Denton

In the name of Islam

When atheists and their ilk get bent out of shape over statues/monuments of the Ten Commandments … they go to the courts and the American Civil Liberties Union.

When Muslims see a cartoon of their revered prophet … they kill people and destroy buildings.

Every time I hear “Islam” and “religion of peace” in the same sentence, I am disgusted.  Of course, I know Islam is a peaceful religion … but the extremely violent protests and other acts carried out by some of its “followers” don’t do much to convince me.

Ben Rothe, Lincoln

Representing who?

This is an open letter to our “representatives” in Congress — in the House of Representatives. Lee Terry, Jeff Fortenberry, and Tom Osborne, you all recently voted to cut benefits for the elderly, the working poor and college students, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.

This is not what the majority of Nebraskans want. Gentlemen, you are not representing our interests when you do this. Had just two of you voted against it, the bill would not have passed! You had in your hands the ability to show that you care about the working poor and the elderly, yet you did not do it.

These spending cuts were portrayed as necessary, yet Congress has continually extended benefits for the rich — ending estate taxes, extending benefits for pharmaceutical companies, permitting no-bid contracts in Iraq and Louisiana, cutting tax rates on higher incomes, and refusing to tax the exploding revenues of oil companies.

The majority of the population favors repealing Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy. Even Warren Buffett agrees. Are you representing Nebraskans? Or someone else?

Robert Boyce, Lincoln

Interpreting God’s will

The headline on the Lincoln Journal Star story about the Rev. Tom Swartley troubled me. “Minister driven by God’s will” seems to be a statement of fact or a description of what is happening. It would be far more accurate to say “Minister says he is driven by God’s will.” The headline is most readily interpreted to be the Journal Star’s interpretation of  Swartley’s action, whereas it is merely what Swartley says about himself.

God’s will is something many millions of people currently and throughout Hebrew-Christian history have been concerned to know and do. The human understandings of what God’s will is have varied widely. Muslim suicide bombers believe they are doing God’s will. Jewish people believe it is God’s will that they not eat pork. Jesus, whom Christians call the Christ, said that some of the ideas his Jewish forebears had about God’s will he did not agree with. “It has been said, “Hate your enemies,” but I say, “Love your enemies and do good to them that hate you.”

It has been a major motivation in my life to do God’s will. That requires making choices again and again about what I interpret God’s will to be. And my interpretation does not agree at some points with Swartley’s.

LaRoy E. Seaver, Lincoln

Question for Swartley

I was enthralled by the geological and astronomical theories of the Rev. Tom Swartley.

I do have one remaining question, though, which I wish to direct to him, and that is, “Does he have an opposable thumb?”

Eli Chesen, Lincoln

Blatant disregard

A man once said, “We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties. …  We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization.”

Today, this man’s words are being blatantly disregarded. For the past five years, the civil liberties and civil rights of hundreds of people have been taken away. For the past five years, oppression, injustice and hatred have, indeed, attacked our civilization.  Sixty years later, his words are still valid.

The president was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And the victims today are detainees at the naval base, Guantanamo Bay.

It has been four years since the first men were transferred to Guantanamo, and today, 500 men are unlawfully held and tortured at the detention facility. They have had little or no contact with the outside world. To escape their torture, they have embarked on prolonged hunger strikes. They have attempted suicide.

The torture taking place at Guantanamo is illegal, it is ineffective and most of all it is immoral.

To put a stop to this, an independent commission of inquiry into the United States’ detention policies and practices must be put into place.

Detainees should be released; Guantanamo should be closed; torture should be officially and publicly condemned.  

Cassie Fleming, Lincoln

Their parents’ shame

I wanted to comment on the passing of Coretta Scott King. I am particularly glad that King passed with no suffering. However, selfish that I am, my heart still broke and I did shed tears. She lived such a dedicated life to ending discrimination for all people and to unify, not divide.

Unfortunately, and not following the message of their parents, the King children appear to exclude gay and lesbian people in their continuing of the journey. I am sure this would be to the great chagrin of their parents, who marched with openly gay individuals, matter of fact, hand in hand, such as marching with the great Bayard Rustin.

As each generation passes, the next must try to remember the positive aspects of the previous, and I am comforted by the tools and inspiration given to us by Martin and Coretta King. The couple was not just about the talk; their actions spoke for themselves. They were an inspiration as Christian people who opened their arms to all people, not a select group who conformed to a pre-selected agenda. However, in this instance of Coretta Scott King’s passing, there is a deep sadness, especially for the gay and lesbian community.

Stacie L. Schultz, Lincoln