Letters to the Editor

• Don't destroy island for convenience of few
  Why are we trying to shoehorn a commercial airport into such a small community, an airport that provides services to only a few at the expense and sacrifice of many, sacrifices for the benefit of a mere 2.6 percent of visitors to Hilton Head Island?

• Chamber, president work for Hilton Head
  To the critics of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce's efforts to promote tourism travel via the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport, and especially to those who have unfairly implied that Bill Miles, chamber president and CEO, is overpaid, you need to take a moment to reflect on reality.

• Chamber president has good reason to smile
  Has anyone noticed that when you see Bill Miles, the president and CEO of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, either in person or in print, he is grinning from ear to ear?

• Gun control laws show 2nd Amendment need
  A recent letter writer stated, "If I had my druthers, I would repeal the Second Amendment and replace it with local laws that described when and how a populace can own a gun, what type of gun they can own, where they can keep them and when they can use them."

• Better to spend money on education than malls
  I'm having a hard time visualizing Gucci and Ferragamo hiring people in a county that felt the need to pass a law banning sagging pants.

• Dock would ruin public beach for neighbors
  One of the biggest selling points of my residence on Seaside Road was that it is a short walk to the beach, and we're able to walk for a good distance, visit with our neighbors and let our dogs run and enjoy the water.

• Compare and contrast today's honor students
  In the March 15 story "District to eliminate some honors courses," someone asks, "What about the lower-achieving honors students?"

• Aid to Israel should stop if it won't pursue peace
  I am outraged by the audacity of the announcement in Israel, deliberately timed to coincide with the arrival of our vice president, about building 1,600 more apartments in East Jerusalem, which still is recognized by the international community as part of Palestine.

• Nothing so fun to spend as someone else's money
  Ah, it's in the air: OPM, Other People's Money. The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton of Commerce smells it. The Sembler Co. smells it.

• What justifies pay for chamber president?
  Was that a misprint in the March 12 letter about Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce president Bill Miles' compensation? He received $344,251 in 2009, including a $25,000 bonus. What on Earth does he accomplish for this salary?

• Action needed now on health care reform
  Recently, a friend sent an e-mail with a link to a site that illustrates the space station's growth over the years. As I watched it evolve, I couldn't help but think the space station would not exist today had those in positions of power insisted on the 100-percent solution from the "get-go."

• Chamber should rethink its spending priorities
  I think it's time to say what many people are thinking. I am not opposed to the $300,000 approved by Town Council to help promote Hilton Head Island or even the more than $1 million the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce receives from the town.

• Scary position is to do nothing on health care
  Our poor, demoralized and frightened citizens take orders from their health insurance companies and hope for the best. Our country can do better than this. A democracy needs educated, healthy and confident people to survive.

• Health care summit was exercise in futility
  The health care summit was a debacle. Think back to when you were in business and needed to come to some form of consensus with 38 people in the room.

• Helping hungry, homeless starts with finding jobs
  I attended the meeting at Congregation Beth Yam devoted to exploring the problems of hunger and homelessness, but not joblessness, in our community.

• Life or death for airport the issue to be decided
  The March 13 story on the Hilton Head Island Airport was accurate in presenting the situation, but only two true options exist.

• Past reconciliation vote shows bipartisan support
  According to the national media, the reconciliation procedure has been used 23 times since 1980 -- 17 times by Republicans and six times by Democrats.

• Deaths might have been stopped with proper care
  My mother died when I was only 10 years old. I had two sisters younger than me and two brothers.

• Reforming health care in citizens' best interests
  It is time for health care reform.

• Health care bill offers serious improvements
  Health reform legislation has been passed by both the House and Senate, pending final approval. These are the major reforms: No insurance can be denied because of pre-existing conditions; no cap can be placed on medical costs for any condition; portability from state to state; no policy can be arbitrarily canceled; Medicare benefits will be improved; Medicare's prescription drug coverage doughnut hole will be eliminated; physician payments will increase; there will be no increase in costs; the budget deficit will decrease; and more than 30 million uninsured, less fortunate people now will have coverage.

• 'Slaughter solution' violates Constitution
  U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, has devised the "Slaughter solution." She is joined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in creating a rule to bypass a House vote on the Senate-passed health care bill. Pelosi would present "corrections" to the Senate bill for approval. The House wouldn't vote on the actual bill. Instead, the president would receive the Senate bill and the House corrections for his signature.

• Find out for yourself what's in health care bill
  The results of the latest Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation health policy tracking poll indicate that Americans are divided over congressional health reform proposals, but that most people, including the skeptics, become supportive after being told specifically about many of the major provisions in the bills.

• Republicans old hands at using reconciliation
  The Republican Party has demonstrated that they are not only the party of "no," but also the party of unbelievable hypocrisy.

• Supreme Court justices not immune to criticism
  Poor Chief Justice John Roberts. He was uncomfortable because President Barack Obama criticized one of the Supreme Court's decisions during his State of the Union address.

• US census costs go up with pointless mailing
  Last week, I received a letter from the U.S. Census Bureau advising me that, in about a week, I will receive a letter from the U.S. Census Bureau. Way to go, guys. Spend all that surplus cash.

Letters to the Editor

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