Letters for March 16, 2017
Join our boycott now
Re “Resist” (cover story, March 2):
I’ve been a long time reader of Reno News & Review, and I’ve always known its a liberal paper trying to disguise itself as hip and trendy. Until now I’ve had absolutely no problem with your paper stating it’s views, whether on the environment or Burning Man, and everything in between. This latest edition with “RESIST” on the cover has ended my loyalty to you. I’ve always promoted your paper to friends and tourists. You have become inflammatory and hateful, which is the last thing this country needs right now.
I’m putting you on notice that I’ll be spearheading a Facebook campaign to boycott your hateful paper, because of its dangerous agenda-driven statements that only encourage violence in the end. You can sugar-coat it however you want, but I will not stand back and let you abuse the first amendment without a fight.
Darren Castellano
Reno
More on Oroville
Re “Don’t Damn the Dam” (Let Freedom Ring, Feb. 23):
Brendan Trainor trivializes a serious problem with Oroville Dam by politicizing it. He uses the damage to the emergency spillway to indict all government programs from infrastructure development to emergency response.
This anti-government rant deceptively ignores facts. Many non-government dams have suffered problems too, including complete failures causing massive damage and loss of life. A partial list of such complete failures includes the Buffalo Creek coal slurry flood. West Virginia (1972, Pittston Coal Co.); Meadow Pond Dam, New Hampshire (1996, private owner), Martin County coal slurry spill, Kentucky. (2000, Massey Energy), Silver Lake Dam, Michigan (2003, private business), and Delhi Dam, Iowa. (2010, Interstate Power Co.). So much for the government being the threat to the environment!
The truth? Oroville Dam was declared safe and has functioned well for its nearly 50-year history. The emergency spillway was damaged by excessive water flow. Any deferred maintenance was most likely due to unwillingness to spend money. State, federal and private dams are all subject to problems. Building dams is a difficult endeavor. Sometimes unexpected floods simply overwhelm the structure. But, in no fair way can problems at Oroville Dam be generalized to demean government.
What about the benefits of government owned dams like Oroville? How could private agriculture have initially afforded to develop the projects that provide irrigation water to the Central Valley when farmers had no viable businesses without the water? And, what would your electric bill be without cheap, efficient hydropower from government dams? This piece exemplifies the deceptive use of incomplete facts to support a political position.
Bruce Schmidt
Sparks
The ACA battle
As a result of the Affordable Care Act, Nevada has made great strides in increasing positive health outcomes. Having spent my career in early intervention programs for children with disabilities, I know first-hand that families have better access to care, which means parents can seek health care for their children when needed. This is especially important for parents with a child with special health care needs.
Although the ACA has improved coverage for both parents and children, there are still many children and their families who remain uninsured. These ACA requirements must be retained at the federal level: No caps on lifetime benefits; no premium increases on age or gender; no pre-existing conditions exclusions; ability to cover dependents until age 26; maintain at least the current tax credits; recognize that HSAs are only effective for people with higher incomes and have minimal effect on controlling health care costs; retain subsidies at least at the current level; and continue Children’s Medicaid Expansion Program, block granting and per capita caps are not viable approaches.
Janelle Mulvenon
Sparks