Traverse City Record-Eagle

Archive: Tuesday

April 3, 2012

Letters to the Editor: 04/03/2012

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Who should have a say?

I am appalled at the assault on women's reproductive rights, led by celibate Catholic priests and menopausal male politicians.

A wise woman once told me that only women of childbearing age should have any say in decisions about reproductive rights for women.

If only that were true ...

Ellen W. Pisor

Leland

We need to love, not hate

I suppose that since we are bombarded daily by unsupported and in many cases unsupportable fear and hate mongering, that it is only natural that some of us are getting a little worked up. Here is my take:

Comprehensive sex education and accessible contraceptives will vastly reduce the need for abortion services, services that should be safe, legal and rare.

How can we deny a woman the right to control her biology when there is no comparable restriction on those born without a uterus?

If you believe in an all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the Earth and the universe in which it exists, then this creator made us all in his/her image or he/she made none of us.

There is one race, the human race, and we need to love, not hate one another.

Israel is the still the largest recipient of U.S. aid; we are still its staunchest ally, and any of those we perceive as threat to Israel's existence know this well.

In addition, should Iran, for example, ever attack Israel directly in any fashion, Israel has its own nuclear capability and could and most certainly would reduce Iran to ash.

Marlowe Bonner

Traverse City

Coins hurt businesses

Some in Congress are pushing to permanently replace the paper dollar with the dollar coin. Not only would H.R. 2977/S. 2049 be a pain for consumers, but the cost to business owners would also be severe.

The dollar coins we have had in the past were easily mistaken for quarters.

In my cash-based business, this was a big problem. Money lost from this confusion is money that could have been re-invested in my business.

Many registers can't accommodate a large number of coins, forcing businesses to purchase new ones.

People also don't like to carry around a lot of coins, so consumers would likely turn to using credit more frequently.

Businesses are charged a fee by credit card companies every time a credit or debit card is swiped, so the loss in profit from increased credit use could be immense.

Congress should be focusing on more important issues than a dollar coin. As a U.S. citizen, I am concerned that I can be arrested and detained without cause, given some policies passed by the president.

While Congress is also concentrating on the contraception debate, small businesses are struggling without a lifeline. These are the problems that need attention right now.

Amanda Washburne

Traverse City

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