Letters to the Editor

• Many pluses to casino being built next door
  My wife and I have been in Sun City Hilton Head for 18 months. We came here from Jackson, Calif.

• Rubio's concern missing on other life issues
  It's no surprise Sen. Marco Rubio is springing into action against the Health and Human Services mandate, but clearly he is a cafeteria Catholic.

• Good points made about state of GOP
  Recently, I read a column in the New York Times by Nicholas D. Kristof and thought at the time that it should be required reading for all Republicans. I also wished that somehow The Island Packet could run it.

• More police on patrol better use of bed taxes
  In the late '50s, a "police presence" was used in areas of Brooklyn, N.Y., to try to eliminate crime and gang activity. There were teams of two large officers patrolling on foot, twirling their batons. They were intimidating, to say the least. It worked.

• U.S. can afford, needs cuts in defense spending
  A recent letter reminded us of the outstanding work of the Navy SEALs in tracking down Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

• Lincoln's war legacy not worth celebrating
  President Abraham Lincoln hired a "representative recruit," who donned a uniform to serve as his substitute on Sept. 30, 1864, during the Civil War.

• Supply-side economics simply doesn't add up
  Let's look at the naivetè of right-wing Republicans.

• Bishops try to ignore actions of lay Catholics
  A writer Feb. 2 says there is a conflict between my Catholic Bishop's Conference and the Department of Health and Human Services on requiring Catholic colleges and hospitals to give health coverage that includes contraceptives.

• No value to compromise if you sacrifice principles
  Many in today's liberal media would have you believe that compromise is the only way to move the government forward. Liberals believe if you are a principled political candidate of "no compromise," you cannot win. If the New York Giants and the New England Patriots came to the Super Bowl with that attitude, who do you think would prevail? Do you honestly think Coach Bill Belichik and Coach Tom Coughlin focus their practice sessions on compromising with the other team?

• Litterers make a mess of Lowcountry beauty
  The Lowcountry, as we know, is a beautiful place to live. However, it is appalling to me that there is so much trash in the ditches along our highways and byways.

• Hypocrisy is astounding in Obama's presidency
  President Barack Obama drones on about his concern for the middle class -- the folks needing jobs, whose homes have little value, but who pay his bills.

• Don't let big money destroy democracy
  Two years ago, in a case called Citizens United, five justices on the Supreme Court out-voted the other four and overturned a century's worth of laws that had restricted the influence of big money in our elections. Thanks to the Citizens United decision, individuals and corporations can now flood the election process with unlimited amounts of cash.

• Candidates' motives key in picking a president
  What causes a man (or woman) to seek the presidency, the highest office in our nation?

• Hopes for the F-35B increasingly desperate
  One is not surprised by the hopelessly Pollyannaish content of your Feb. 1 editorial, "It's 'hurry up and wait' for Joint Strike Fighters." You have chosen yet once again to perpetuate the fiction that this obscenely wasteful and unnecessary venture -- described by U.S. Sen. John McCain as "a scandal and a tragedy" and a "train wreck" -- will somehow save our local economy in a "re-up (of) the usefulness of the air station."

• Health coverage rule violates Constitution
  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last month that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees' health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those "services" in the policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

• School district wastes money in boondoggle
  As a founder, former board chairman and parent of a Riverview Charter School student, I found the decision in the school's dispute with the Beaufort County district vindicating.

• F-35 news offers area ray of economic hope
  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's announcement that the F-35 would be removed from a probationary status should be a slight glimmer of hope for our economy here in the Lowcountry.

• Council aiding, abetting chamber's overspending
  What an outrage. Your lead story Feb. 3 reports an additional $240,000 in accommodations tax revenue going to the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, bringing their annual total to approximately $1.3 million, despite the the fact that this rogue organization pays its president nearly $350,000 and has 22 employees. (Allegations of larger salary income for the president have appeared in multiple publications and have never been refuted by the chamber.)

• Contraception decision not attack on religion
  I thought my beloved Italian mother could not be outdone in knowing how to use the victim and guilt tactic.

• Self-defense claim raises some questions
  At what point do shots in the back go from self-defense to manslaughter? ("Decision on charges against Bluffton tow-truck driver expected soon," Feb. 2) Shot No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 or No. 6?

• Junk science threatens our intellectual health
  At the risk of being slightly pedantic, I would like to point out the two distinguishing characteristics of good science.

• Fire-rescue boat call short-sighted for island
  Shame on me for "missing the boat" on the decision made by the Hilton Head Island Town Council last fall to forego the federal grant that would have provided a fire-rescue boat for the Town of Hilton Head Island Fire & Rescue Division.

• Haley's tough stance on unions appreciated
  I was so glad to hear Gov. Nikki Haley mention unions in her State of the State address.

• There's no better way to start every day
  Every morning when my sweet husband hands me orange juice and coffee, I get a kiss as he says, "I love you and another day in paradise." Wow, what a way to start my day.

• Gingrich determined to conquer Washington
  I watched Newt Gingrich's stirring speech after his huge defeat in the Florida Republican primary. I expected him to appear wearing a laurel wreath and toga. Nevertheless, his speech contained bold plans to take the city of Washington.

Elected Representatives

South Carolina

Nikki Haley, Governor	803.734.2100
Jim DeMint, Senator	843.727.4525
Lindsey Graham, Senator	803.933.0112
Tim Scott, Congressman	843.852.2222
Alan Wilson, Attorney General	803.734.3970
Joe Wilson, Congressman	843.521.2530

Beaufort County

Ed Allen, Coroner	843.255.5150
Sharon Burris, Auditor	843.255.2500
Doug Henderson, Treasurer	843.255.2600
Jerri Ann Roseneau, Clerk of Court	843.255.5050
Frank Simon, Probate Judge	843.255.5850
Duffie Stone, 14th Jud. Circ. Solicitor	843.255.5880
P.J. Tanner, Sheriff	843.255.3200

Weston J. Newton, Council Chairman	843.706.6111
Paul Sommerville, Vice Chairman	843.379.7114
Steven Baer, County Council	843.689.3570
Rick Caporale, County Council	843.689.9999
Gerald Dawson, County Council	843.846.4830
Brian Flewelling, County Council	843.379.9805
Herbert Glaze, County Council	843.846.2845
William McBride, County Council	843.838.2264
Stewart Rodman, County Council	843.363.6470
Gerald Stewart, County Council	843.705.4753
Laura Von Harten, County Council	843.868.1062

City of Beaufort

Billy Keyserling, Mayor	843.521.2600
Donnie Ann Beer, City Council	843.379.6099
Mike McFee, City Council	843.522.1528
George O'Kelley, Jr., City Council	843.522.2043
Mike Sutton, City Council	843.252.5687

Town of Bluffton

Lisa Sulka, Mayor	843.540.1579
Oliver Brown, Town Council	843.757.3690
Karen Lavery, Town Council	843.384.1442
Ted Huffman, Town Council	843.247.8337
Mike Raymond, Town Council	843.540.9471

Town of Hilton Head

Drew Laughlin, Mayor	843.689.5700
Ken Heitzke, Mayor Pro Tempore	843.681.8182
Wm. Lee Edwards, Town Council	843.686.9020
Willie Ferguson, Town Council	843.686.2863
William D. Harkins, Town Council	843.263.3261
Kim Likins, Town Council	843.785.4909
George W. Williams, Jr., Town Council	843.363.6601

Town of Port Royal

Samuel Murray, Mayor	843.524.4890
Vernon DeLoach, Town Council	843.524.4655
Mary Beth Grey-Heyward, Town Council	843.524.4561
Thomas Klein, Town Council	843.522.0068
Joe Lee, Town Council	843.522.9867

 

Letters to the Editor