| No
more Hicks, please
At your earliest convenience, please revoke
John Hicks’ ability to write guest commentaries
for your publication. His recent effort (“America
the Beautiful?” May 3) resulted in something
akin to the journalistic equivalent of the “Technicolor
Yaw.”
A direct quote from John’s commentary — “College
students have so much debt that paying it back
is almost hopeless.” Yet his employer of many
years, Drake University, has annual tuition,
room, board and student activity fees of $38,236
per year. In four years, that’s $152,944. After
you review recent faculty raises and tuition
hikes in this depressed economy, you’ll know
Drake is not about belt tightening and keeping
it affordable.
I’m sure Mr. Hicks would be able to justify
that investment, especially with an art or teaching
degree. Can you have it both ways, John? Why
would one invest so much in a career that pays
so poorly, according to those in those fields?
At the end of his “commentary,” he asks, “Can
racists and rednecks really win an election?”
John, thankfully we live in America. A redneck’s
vote counts just as much as yours. So do the
votes for all of us clinging to our guns and
religion.
Brett Mathis
Des Moines
Mitt Romney’s latest falsehoods
Mitt Romney claims 92 percent of the people
who lost jobs on President Obama’s watch are
women. This assertion was debunked by Politifact,
the Post’s Glenn Kessler and NBC’s Domenico
Montanaro. All three point out that Romney’s
claim relies on losses using January 2009 as
a baseline, BEFORE President Obama’s policies
took effect.
Romney has echoed this charge multiple times,
changing the numbers to keep pace with improving
economic news. As new fact checks of Romney’s
claims about women are exposed, his methodology
is completely bogus. Lately he denies that there
are gender-based differences in wages, even
though it is a statistical truth that women
work for less then men.
He also claims Obama stole his ideas to save
the auto industry even though he previously
said, “Let them go bankrupt.” He also claims
in regards to the death of Osama bin Laden that,
“He would have done the same thing.” Even though
he previously stated, “I would have negotiated
with Pakistan before killing bin Laden.”
Time and time again, he has lied and flip-flopped
regarding primary issues. Women can expect that,
if elected president, Romney will formally criminalize
reproductive choices and take other measures
to suppress women’s rights.
Dan Bynum
Eldridge |
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