Friday, January 1, 1904
Your Free Press editorial "Signal police should show more restraint" makes unfavorable comparison between the number of arrests for underage drinking by Signal Mountain police and and other police forces in Hamilton County. There may be reasons for a difference.
Is the ratio of police officers on Signal Mountain to the number of teenagers on Signal Mountain equal to the ratio of police officers in other areas of Hamilton County to teenagers in those areas? Perhaps teenagers living on Signal Mountain have the mistaken idea that living a few hundred feet of elevation above the Tennessee River gives them different rules for living than the rules for teenagers living in the valley.
The editorial stated the Signal Mountain police action showed a lack of compassion and common sense and asked, "Can't they find something better to do than to act in ways that are unduly harsh to young people?"
Are you using common sense to publish an editorial critical of the police for enforcing the law, which is the job they are hired to do?
WILLIAM WIGGINS, Signal Mountain
While it is clear that the cartoon on the Times editorial page is intended to make fun of the Republican Party, I don't believe the people of Moore, Okla., would find it too funny.
We experienced terrible tornado damage in Chattanooga in the last two years, and I do not know of one person who thought of comparing those occurances to politics.
WILLIAM NEELEY
It wasn't surprising to learn in the May 23 edition of the Times Free Press that Sen. Bob Corker would welcome TVA being privatized. When Volkswagen determines if it will remain or expand, it likely will soon be dealing with rate setters in Chicago, Atlanta or Raleigh, N.C.
Sen. Corker is clueless if he thinks distributors could finance such a purchase. And why would those cities care about our industrial and residential rates? Why not use all natural gas for fuel even if prices can fluctuate 20 percent monthly, so as not to deal with the EPA? Besides, we don't need these high-paying jobs in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Muscle Shoals, Ala., right? They could be performed elsewhere. It would help other large employers in the city upgrade to a more educated workforce as they become more entrepreneurial.
While we're on a roll, maybe toll roads, pay-as-you-go cargo at the dams, only hospital, medical and educational services for those who can afford them. Without the subsidies, we can become the good ole USA of the "survival of the fittest."
Thank God, the federal budget will be balanced, and Lord help us!
JOHN F. EARY, Ringgold, Ga.
The time has come to rid ourselves of all our tax burdens. Time to relieve Congress of its power to waste our money, time to put people back to work, time to bring companies back to the U.S., time to start paying down the debt and time for the fair tax.
It's the only way left.
JOANN WHITLOW, Harrison