Obamacare sign-ups behind and other letters to the editors

Obamacare sign-ups behind

I was intrigued by the Associated Press article on page A3 of the Dec. 30 edition with the White House trumpeting the recent sign-ups for Obamacare. Wow, one million, and it only took two months. Odd. The dateline was shown as Honolulu, the very place the president is spending our money on vacation. Let's see, with 43 million to go, it should only take how many months? You do the math.

STEVE BERNTHAL, Blairsville, Ga.


Climate change, and world history

Having reviewed the body of work of Professor Marilyn A. Brown, I found she has collaborated on or lent her name to numerous research projects of others and shared the Nobel Peace Prize for promoting climate change. The research efforts she has participated in are focused primarily on politics of science and energy which seamlessly promotes climate change as a phenomenon created by man's habitation of Earth while practically ignoring the climate changes that occurred before the industrial revolution. Her theories on climate change are biased as they do not address world geography over thousands and millions of years that show the undulating trends in weather change and catastrophic events that has resulted in floods, ice ages, deserts and rain forest which have in some cases resulted in annihilation of plant and animal species and civilizations.

JAMES E. BANKSTON, Florence, Ala.


Raise won't go very far

The University of Tennessee is patting itself on the back for raising the hourly rate for some of its workers to $9 an hour. If you will examine some figures I have interpolated, you may reach a different conclusion concerning the probability of being able to make ends meet with an annual salary of $17,280 ($9/hour, $1,440/month): $7,200 rent, at $600/ month; $3,456 federal income tax (20% of $17,280); $2,400 individual insurance ($200/ month); $2,100 household utilities: heating, air conditioning, electricity, water ($175/month); $1,500 gas for car (paid off): $3.10/gallon, 20mpg, 10,000 miles annually; $1,500 car insurance ($125/month); $720 phone ($60/month); $600 car maintenance ($50/month); $19,476 total.Note that the budget is already $2,196 in the red, and there is no deduction for food. Is it any wonder that many have protested their wages at Walmart and McDonald's? What is puzzling is why many folks actually think others could thrive on wages less than $15 an hour. Go figure.

TOM BAKER, Hixson


Consider Bible in context

In response to a letter from Dec. 28 quoting 1 Corinthians 6:9 and Romans 1:27, let's retain the full context of these verses by also considering 1 Corinthians 6:10-11: "Nor the thieves nor the greedy nor the drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." And also consider Romans 1:28: "Furthermore God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, haters, arrogant, and boastful." And immediately after, Romans 1:21: "You therefore have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself."

RENEE FORD, Chattanooga

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