Letters

Letters to the editor

Highlands Today
Published: September 2, 2012

Presidential choices

The Republicans nominated establishment candidate Mitt Romney for the GOP presidential ticket. This came after the national GOP did everything in their power to stifle the voices of those Republicans who had different views.

If you are a social conservative who supported Rick Santorum, the mainstream GOP will pay no more than lip service to the issues you care about to convince you to support a candidate that is not any different from the current president.

If you are a fiscal conservative who supported Ron Paul, you can forget seeing real spending reductions. They will talk a good game but spending and federal government bloat will continue unabated.

When you go vote for Romney because the GOP has you convinced that he is different from Obama, I can assure you that the chuckle you hear from Wall Street and Washington is directed at you.

So this is what we get.

A choice of a liberal who has a long record of pushing for gun control laws, one who will continue to spend us into bankruptcy. One who is an outspoken supporter of the Patriot Act and the TSA freedom fondle at the airports. One who passed a mandatory government health care law.

Or Obama.

As a lifelong Republican, I can't stand it. I am angry that this is what the party of Ronald Reagan has become. This choice is no choice, so I will choose the third party candidate who is politically a constitutional conservative.

Some Republicans will say this attitude will get Obama re-elected.

To this I say, "Who cares? There is no real difference between Romney and Obama."

Welcome to presidential politics in the 21st century.

Dana B. Orr

Avon Park

Unemployment running out

With our unemployment rate in Highlands County at over 10 percent, our government says as of Dec. 29 there will not be any emergency unemployment payments, and when I called, they told me anyone that gets payments after will only get the max payment of $7,000 total and no more, which totals out to six months.

I've been unemployed going on two years. God help us! I've written our senators, governor and sent him the news clip about our jobless rate, but to no avail.

Curtis Jones

Sebring

County should help senior citizens

Nu-Hope Elder Care Services has provided vital services for seniors since 1975. These services allow seniors to remain in their homes and avoid nursing home placement.

For over 25 years, the county has partnered with Nu-Hope providing valuable funding to ensure the needs of our seniors are met. However, as you may have heard, the county now proposes to end all support. This will have a significant impact.

Every dollar provided by the county brings in $10 of federal- and state-funded services. Without these funds, the number of seniors who can be served will be reduced. Many of these seniors will be forced to go to a nursing home in order to receive the care they so critically need.

We do not believe this is right. Over 39 percent of our county's residents are 60 and older. These residents need and deserve the support of our county government. They also deserve to have their voices heard.

We encourage you to speak our in support of our seniors by contacting the County Commissioners at 402-6500. We also encourage the community to attend the public hearings Thursday, Sept. 6, and Tuesday, Sept. 18.

For more information, please contact Nu-Hope at 382-2134.

Ingra Gardner

Executive Director, Nu-Hope