Letters to the editor June 19

The people say Ron Paul won the debate

I watched the Republican debate and saw six people who mostly aped each other, but only one who stood out for his own independent thinking: Ron Paul.

Most of the talking heads crowned Romney or Bachmann the winner. Little mention was given of Paul, even though the polls on MSNBC, Fox, Anderson Cooper's Facebook page, and others, had Paul winning by a landslide. We the People declared him the winner, but the media is pushing the candidate they want, hoping that the sheep will follow.

I've heard that no real solutions were given in the debate to our domestic, economic and foreign woes. While the six were debating the possibility of 5 percent growth, only Paul ignored that hollow chatter, stating that we could not get out of this morass unless our money was sound again - and that involved reining-in or dissolving the Federal Reserve.

Paul was the only candidate who did not want a Constitutional amendment for the sanctity of marriage. Only Paul stood by the elimination of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Only Paul has a record of voting against these useless, debilitating wars, and voting against the Patriot Act.

While the six dithered away about health care, Ron Paul had solid fixes for bringing down its costs, and offered fiscally sound alternatives to Obamacare.

It's time for the GOP and the media to wake up and support one of the truest statesmen of our time, Ron Paul.

Cynthia Kennedy

Virginia City Highlands

Life is God's gift and choice

Regarding Tina Dupuy's article on death panels, those who promote end-of-life choices are forgetting the most important and eternally irrevocable decision of their lives: Life is God's gift and our passing from this life to the next, regardless of the situation, is also His choice.

When my husband's hip broke at the Reno Veterans Hospital, we signed a resuscitate order and, subsequently, the head nurse tells me, "Well, you don't want to resuscitate him."

My reply was, "Yes we do, and it's in writing. If God wants him He can take him and He does not need any help from you or anybody else. Do I make my point?"

That probably explains why I was right with him when God called him home so that I would know God took him.

As for Jeff Fine's opinion on homosexuality, same issue. It takes two opposite-sex persons to constitute a family. America's laws on marriage are based upon the laws of that same God who is the creator, from whom, we, the people, obtained our gifts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The fact that homosexuals do not agree, does not translate to we, the people, having to accept their failure to comply with God's natural law and His 10 Commandments. If they don't accept His law regarding homosexuality before they die, they can expect to inherit the same recompense as those of Sodom and Gomorrah.

We are supposed to learn from history. Get a clue!

Mary Santomauro

Stagecoach

More information needed from mining company

Dear Comstock Mining Company,

Sustainable business practices in the mining industry are the expected and legislated norm in the 21st century. Sarbanes-Oxley and the SEC have changed the way mining companies do business in the world.

Visit any of the websites of those operating in Nevada - Rio Tinto, Barrick, Newmont, many others - and you will see substantial commitments to sustainable practices, environmental restoration and corporate responsibility to the communities in which they operate.

Nowhere in your company materials do you address any of these critical issues, nor do you include any mention of commitment to decency and ethics in your practices.

If you expect to become a respected Nevada company, you will need to provide more than passing, shallow lip service to these governing principles and fundamentals. You will need to deliver. You are not comporting yourselves as decent corporate citizens, and the Comstock Historic District's community is holding you accountable until you do.

Andrea Turman

Virginia City

Ayres is fighting for seniors

I read with dismay the response by Gary Thompson of Gardnerville to Janice Ayres' letter of May 31 regarding the effect of the Ryan Plan on seniors.

For those who are gullible enough to acquire Thompson's thinking on the subject, I invite you to join the human race. Janice Ayres is a wonderful person who has tried to actually do something for a segment of our society that is in need. You, too, will be a senior someday, as I am.

I am also a native Nevadan who is disgusted with and tired of the rant of the right in this state. We are better people than the Gary Thompsons of the world.

Wake up Nevada! Join the human race for a change, and make this a better state in which to live.

Oma Rose

Reno

Ayres right to warn seniors about Rep. Ryan

I was disappointed to read Gary Thompson's letter today disparaging Janice Ayres' recent column intended to inform Nevadans about the recent budget debate. Janice Ayres has devoted her life to helping senior citizens, and I hope she continues.

Thompson's rebuttal is not rooted in facts. Ayres' column, Legislative Watch: Seniors beware of Ryan's budget proposal, May 31, was right to warn current and future retirees about how they would be impacted by this dramatic budget.

As for Thompson's dismissal that the Social Security has a $2.6 trillion surplus, perhaps he should take it up with the Congressional Budget Office and the Social Security Trustees. I've found that anyone who insists Social Security is broke probably wants to break it themselves.

The claim that the Social Security Trust Fund has been raided and is full of IOUs is a common myth. The Trust Fund isn't full of IOUs, it's full of U.S. Treasury Bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S.

Social Security holds treasury bonds for the same reason many Americans do: The federal government has never once missed an interest payment on its debts.

As for the courage that Republicans are said to have demonstrated on the Ryan Budget, please forgive me if I do not agree that addressing our budget shortfalls by pulling the rug from under seniors while giving more tax breaks and write-offs to the wealthiest corporations and individuals is courageous.

Scott Watts

Carson City