To the editor: 

An unprecedented betrayal of trust has yet to be properly addressed within our nation’s capital. The lion’s share of Republican senators and congresspersons as well as a few Democrats violated their oath of office and their constitutional obligation by ceding their authority to raise revenue by taxation.

Per Article 1 Sections 7 and 8 of our U.S. Constitution, “All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills” and “Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes.”

To the editor:

Gallup wasted time and money with its April polling of Americans for unfavorable views of top House leaders Boehner and Pelosi, along with Senate leaders Reid and McConnell. A third of those polled either had no opinion or never heard of the four leaders. Inexplicably, favorable ratings for all four leaders exceeded the 15 percent job approval of Congress.

Boehner’s popularity initially rose but rapidly declined as the 2011 GOP hopes to limit Obama spending evaporated as new Speaker Boehner caved to administration budget and spending continuing resolutions, thus squandering the speaker’s power to limit government spending to match government income. 

To the editor:

True students of politics say that if you wish to change the outcome and the method that business and politics are conducted you must vote in new blood who wants positive change. I’ve been a lifelong Republican from Philly even though my mom was a Democratic committeewoman. I am very disenchanted and critical of present-day Republicans. It seems they project mixed messages, in-house fighting and go along to get along attitude with the Democrats, and this looks weak in comparison.

Romney gave the election away to Obama. Obama did not win; Romney lost the presidency due to the reasons previously stated. Also, Romney excluded some minorities, tea party and others. He did not help himself with these exclusions.

To the editor: 

Amnesty for undocumented and illegal immigrants residing in America is a dirty word for many affixed to the right side of our political spectrum. Yet their silence is deafening when it comes to punishing employers who knowingly hire such folks.

The demand for menial jobs, the willingness to circumvent the legal process so they might work hard for a pittance among those who cannot find work in their native lands causes consternation among many right-wing conservatives, yet the suppliers of that work – the wealthy farmers, factory and construction company owners who profit from this dirt-cheap labor – raises few if any eyebrows. 

Are you looking for the latest At Large with Tom Williams column? Or maybe the most recent column from Joe Wilkins? Or a guest column or an editorial piece?

These columns are now located here. Please update your bookmarks. 

To the editor:

Did I read correctly in the April 11 letters page that a letter writer believes that homosexual behavior must be "natural" (i.e., "normal") because it helps to hold down excess population? Did he mean because homosexuals cannot reproduce, or because so many of them die from AIDS? Well, I guess we could make the same argument for abortion too. And while we're at it, why don't we legalize murder as well, as that would also help to keep the population down. Feeling an urge to kill someone sometimes is certainly "natural" too, isn't it?

The same writer also tries to make the argument that if homosexuality was abnormal it would have "disappeared from the gene pool" a long time ago. But science has found no such thing as a "gay" gene. Thus it has nothing whatsoever to do with the gene pool.

To the editor:
Georgia’s Augusta National is the home of the prestigious Masters Golf Tournament, arguably the most important golfing event in the country. A unique situation came about when Tiger Woods, unquestionably the world’s best and probably all-time best golfer, hit a near perfect shot that improbably caromed off the flagpole, ending up in a water hazard, costing him a one-stroke penalty. By rule, the ball was supposed to be dropped at the appropriate crossing point, but subject to a limit of one club length from that spot.

Tiger dropped the ball at a greater distance, double the limit, subjecting himself to an additional one-stroke penalty that golfing officials neglected, possibly intentionally because golfing TV audiences decline significantly when he is not in the field. The penalty would have forced himto be disqualified from the remaining Saturday and Sunday rounds, the days of the largest TV audiences. Tiger was spared disqualification because the powers that be desperately wanted him to continue driving TV ratings on CBS.

To the editor:

I strongly disagree with Scott Friedman's letter in the April 4 Current.

Mr. Friedman insists that male homosexuals don't target children. But psychologists have been aware of this fact for years. And those kinds of incidents are reported all the time by both police departments and unbiased news organizations.