Lawmakers should

save auto industry

To our senators and representatives:

An underpaid man is a customer reduced in purchasing power! By the way, what is your wage per hour with no lifting, no training? You receive all kinds of perks, golden pensions, people, taxpayer-paid good health care and on and on.

Save the auto industry or we will become a Third World country. Will that please you people of Congress? Maybe you could consider a pay cut yourselves.

Millicent F. Wootten

Logansport



How about these

immigration laws?

Some people think we Americans are so cruel to the people that want to cross our borders illegally. What do those people think about these laws for LEGAL immigrants?

1. If you immigrate to our country you have to speak our language.

2. If you immigrate to our country you have to be a professional or investor.

3. There are no special bilingual school programs allowed.

4. There are no special ballots. All ballots are printed in native language.

5. All government business conducted in native language only. No exceptions.

6. Foreigners will not be allowed to vote or hold office.

7. You will not be allowed federal programs, food stamps, welfare, etc.

8. You can buy land, but it will be restricted. No water front, and as a foreigner, you will have to relinquish individual rights to that property.

9. As a foreigner you do not have the right to protest or demonstrate.

10. No foreign flag waving allowed.

11. No political organizing.

12. No bad mouthing our laws.

13. If you are a foreigner, shut your mouth or get out.

14. If you come here illegally, you’re going to jail.

Well, what do you think? Are they cruel? Maybe so. Oh, these aren’t America’s laws. These are Mexican laws.

Maybe American law should be at least as strict for the illegal and legal immigrants in our country as they have in their own country.

Nothing wrong with the illegals except they don’t understand mutual respect and how to earn it. It is strictly greed on their part for the almighty U.S. dollar that they are crossing our borders.

“Strong fences make great neighbors.” Farmers understand that concept, but the illegals haven’t grasped that concept yet. There have been walls built by countries in the past ... China, Germany, etc., but these walls were built to keep their people in. A U.S. wall would be to control who gets the privilege to come in. Completely different reason. This is not isolationism. This is common sense.

The other saying that comes to mind is, “Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.” This is one that we understand, but they, by their actions, do not.

“Fish and guests start to smell after 3 days.” Will Rogers, I think, said that.

Well, five decades is long enough.

Mike Smith

Young America



Home-schoolers

should be tracked

I am concerned about the regulations for home schooling in Indiana.

First, I have to say the majority of parents claiming to home school their children are making an excellent effort and some children are being better served with home schooling. However, there are too many cases where there is educational neglect under the guise of home schooling. In the reporting year of 2005-2006, there were over 23,000 children being home schooled in Indiana, according to the Indiana Department of Education. How many of these children are getting an adequate education?

The regulations require that you withdraw your child and notify his or her current principal, in writing, of your decision to home school. Indiana law requires all private school administrators, including home educators, to notify the IDOE of their schools’ grade level enrollments upon request of the state superintendent of public instruction. There is no tracking of the specific child being home schooled. I am also concerned that there may be no follow up on the home-schooled child being reported.

My real concerns come from the fact that a parent can withdraw the child from school at any age claiming to home school the child without any tracking of a specific child. Also, the home-schooled child cannot take the ISTEP test.

Since the numbers of children being home schooled are so large, I think the child should be required to show through standardized tests that they are making reasonable advancement educationally.

I can see where there could be a situation today under current regulations where a child in the first grade could be withdrawn from school under the home school requirements and never be taught reading, writing or calculation with numbers beyond what could be learned from the television. I hope this is not occurring but have a fear that situations exist where parents are withdrawing children under this law when they do not like the rules or regulations of the public school or have a personality conflict.

The law should be changed so that it requires public schools to verify these children are getting a minimum education for survival in society. I would like to see them get an education that would prepare them for an occupation so we do not have even more existing on welfare or in our state prison system because they are lacking an education.

John Wilson

Walton



Lawmakers should

avoid the gimmicks

The Indiana General Assembly is the strongest part of Indiana government. 

In our state, the General Assembly is the two-ton elephant of politics. It is much more powerful than the judiciary or the executive branch of government. Money is tight. The economy is weak. Lawmakers will be tested as they try to balance diminishing resources with increased needs.

What the General Assembly should not do is resort to gimmicks in order to proclaim a balanced budget. In the past, legislators have developed many bad habits during economic downturns that only hide the problem, not create solutions. 

Delaying payments to schools and local governments is a common method used to balance the state budget. It has been used in the past and with a governor who has little respect for local government and could easily be used again. 

Expanding gambling has been used in the past. But gambling has just about reached saturation. Check all of the commercials and promotions on TV trying to get us to gamble. All the gimmicks do is pass the pain on to others.  It is time for the General Assembly to bite the bullet and make the hard decisions. What do you think?

Gordon Southern

Walton



Thanks for help

in time of crisis

Thank you to the Lucerne Fire Department, Logansport ambulance and all the people who helped at Don Boucher’s death.

Marilyn Boucher and family

Lucerne