Findley fan
Dear Editor,
Thanks for the feature on former Congressman Paul Findley [“Our Darkest Time,”
July 31]. Paul is a largely untapped treasure of Central Illinois. Oh, that
his foreign-policy wisdom would be called upon by today’s decision-makers.
I grew up in an avidly Democratic household, and I can remember my father
telling me that Paul Findley was the only Republican name we could ever mention
at the supper table. As Paul never approached his legislative job in partisan
terms, his admirers returned the compliment and the admiration.
As the title of his book indicates, he dares to speak out. As our nation approaches
lockstep mentality brought on by fear, we need the Paul Findleys more and more.
Let us listen and learn.
Ken Bradbury
Arenzville
Judging a man by his friend
Dear Editor:
The issues raised by Paul Findley in your July 31 cover story are far too numerous
to be addressed in a brief letter. So I will limit myself to one observation.
A man is judged by the friends he makes and the company he keeps. That Mr. Findley
considers Yassir Arafat a friend tells me volumes about Findley’s character
and perceptions.
Despite Israel’s failed attempt, at the outset of the Oslo peace process,
to rehabilitate Arafat as a leader and statesman, Yassir Arafat remains what
he has always been: a self-serving revolutionary and terrorist without honor;
a man who has, for decades, lied to and misled his own people; a negotiating
partner whose word cannot be trusted and whose true intentions towards Israel
are always in doubt; an opponent of peace who believes he will obtain more through
violence than through discussion and compromise; and a man with the blood of
thousands on his own hands. Could that be why both Jordan and Lebanon have felt
compelled to exile Arafat from their own borders? Could that be why Israel has
now sought to isolate him?
And this is the man whom Paul Findley calls a friend!
Rabbi Michael Datz
Springfield
Thankful for the Times
Dear Editor:
This is in response to the letter that appeared in the July 31 issue stating
that our Illinois Times is horribly left wing. I would say that the writer
of the letter needs to take a more thorough look around her and she would see
how horribly slanted our nation’s news media is to the right. One primary example
would be the incredibly supportive reporting of our country’s invasion of Iraq
(it was an invasion; no attack had been made on the U.S.).
Terms like “Shock and Awe” and “Operation Iraqi Freedom” were effective in
deceiving and manipulating an already intellectually passive American public.
I am very grateful that we have at least one publication that has the guts and
integrity to speak out against our government. The Times also managed
to do so while maintaining respect for those who were sent over there risking
life and limb–for what????? So Iraq can have a democracy? What if we have forced
it upon them? It brings to mind the days when we were so concerned about communism
taking over the world. In our ignorance, are we doing the same thing?
I am so very thankful that the Times is here in Springfield to offer
us another perspective. It makes us think, and that is something Americans really
do not do enough of. Perhaps if we were more politically concerned, we would
not have swallowed the invasion of Iraq hook, line, and sinker.
A.E. Logue
Springfield
No laughing matter
I am a colorectal surgeon, recruited to join SIU to begin a new program.
One of the first community outreach efforts I did after coming to Springfield
was a cable TV interview regarding colorectal cancer. The interviewer was Tony
Libri.
I recently read a column that ran March 13 about that interview [“Bottoms
up for Tony Libri”]. I believe the columnist’s intent was to lampoon Mr. Libri
due to his political aspirations. However, I was concerned that the tone made
light of the issues surrounding colorectal cancer and its detection and treatment.
I doubt that ridiculing the most common visceral cancer in this country, and
by extension the 150,000 people who are diagnosed with it yearly, was the columnist’s
intent. As you may imagine, convincing the public to agree to screening for
colorectal cancer has not always been easy.
I urge you to use the journalistic voice of Illinois Times to spread
the word that this cancer is one of the most curable when found early. In fact,
colorectal cancer is preventable, by finding and removing the precursor lesion,
which is a polyp. This is a cancer that strikes people in their prime, as evidenced
by the many prominent figures who have grappled with this killer before the
age of 50.
Thank you for your time.
Jan Rakinic MD
Message to the governor: “I’m moving my business”
To the editor:
I’m a small business owner in Pontiac. I want to share with you and your readers
what our governor and his supporters in the state legislature have done for
small businesses in Illinois and why I, and many others, are relocating their
businesses out of the state. First, I’d like to thank Representative Keith Sommer
(R-Morton) for not supporting this legislation and for taking the time on several
occasions to speak with me about this and other matters before our legislature.
I’m a single-truck trucking company. The governor, along with a majority of
the state legislature, has implemented a rate increase that, according to Rep.
Sommer and the Secretary of State’s office, is going to make the average cost
to register a commercial semi truck approximately $4,000. The reason it’s only
approximate is because the bill is so poorly written they are having difficulties
determining what the additional charges are and the exact amounts (it’s amazing
the governor received the support he did when no one seems to be able to figure
out what is in his legislation). This new rate is not only outrageous–it’s now
the highest registration expense in the continental United States, greater even
than in Arizona, which charges on average $3,947 per large truck, according
to the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association. Excluding Illinois and
Arizona, the average cost to register a commercial vehicle in the other 46 continental
states and the District of Columbia is $1,141. To bring this into perspective,
the new registration rate equals $80 per week for every truck registered in
Illinois. Illinois also has one of the highest IFTA fuel tax rates in the nation.
The state receives $.287 per gallon of fuel from each and every truck traveling
through Illinois. My question to the governor and his accomplices is, what are
you doing with all of the revenue you are generating from one of the two largest
total tax burdens on trucks and trucking companies in the nation?
Furthermore, I wonder if the governor and his accomplices realize just how
much this hurts my ability and others like me to provide for our families? I
don’t believe they do, so I will enlighten them. The new rate increase accounts
for 25 percent of my net profit last year. I wish the governor and his accomplices
would have asked one of us struggling to earn a living in the trucking industry
what these increases would mean to us.
I’m moving my business to Alabama, Georgia, or Florida, where I can register
my truck for less than $850 and purchase property for less than $3,000 an acre.
So in less then two years, I will already be ahead of the governor and his accomplices
and their new rates while also gaining equity on my new real estate. Furthermore,
I will be taking the $99,695.41 in expenses I spent last year at places like
Pontiac Auto Parts, Fogarty’s Garage, Eufaula Trucking, and Sapp Bros. Three
of these four are also small businesses that the governor and his accomplices
have now affected with their rate increase. This, Mr. Governor and Accomplices
in the Illinois State Legislature, is not the way to aid our struggling economy
or to encourage new businesses to locate in Illinois.
Joel Baker
Pontiac
This article appears in Aug 7-13, 2003.
