Letters to the Editor

Pray for president

It is obvious there is a lot of fear today in the marketplace. It is usually the second thing most people say after hello, if they can even get that out.

The economy we are experiencing was not created by President Obama. He has assembled a competent team to breathe new life into this mess. He is not a socialist, as some are suggesting.

President Obama is a smart, no-nonsense person who gets it done. Why not give him a chance, or would you like "W" back with his cronies?

Pray for the president and give some praise, and perhaps we will all benefit. After all, I remember praying for Bush every Sunday for eight years. Maybe we should pray for President Obama for the next year before throwing in the towel or giving up our faith system, which by the way, is still the best on this planet.

JACK PRATT

Kapalua Run

Summerville

School choice

Major kudos to Sen. Robert Ford and Rep. Eric Bedingfield for the win/win nature of school choice. During my 14-year stint as a guidance counselor in Charleston County schools, I had the pleasure of working at schools at both ends of the bell curve — those with high ratings and those considered failing.

Contrary to what Jon Butzon and the Rev. Joe Darby believe, those schools with lower socioeconomic student bodies are loaded with extras: personnel, tutors, mentors, coaches, after-school programs, etc. I see this today as I volunteer in a school downtown.

It is high time we quit punishing parents simply because they can't afford more expensive real estate.

KATIE LINK

Planters Loop

Mount Pleasant

Where's mine?

The trillion-dollar stimulus package is now the talk of the country, and everyone has questions. Here are mine.

Why is the money being given to the very people who got us into this situation in the first place? This includes the banks, insurance companies, automakers, defaulted mortgage holders, and the Congress and president with legislation filled with earmarks and pork-barrel projects. If the lending agencies knew they were lending money to people who couldn't pay their bills, why did they do it, and why should they be rewarded?

If small businesses are the backbone of America, why is the stimulus being given to big business?

The struggling small business just closes its doors. But the banks consolidate and get bailed out.

If American-built cars and trucks cost more, get less gas mileage and have smaller resale values at trade-in than Honda and Toyota, why are they being bailed out?

If 93 percent of the American mortgage-holders are current on their payments, why are the 7 percent who are behind being given a pass? What incentive is that for those of us who pay our bills?

For the average American citizen who is struggling to get by, the real question is: Where's mine? I think that's a fair question. If we are ultimately going to be the ones who must pay for this madness, why shouldn't we be a part of stimulating the economy?

We all have friends who have said: If they gave me some of that money, I'd buy a new car, or I'd catch up on my payments, or I'd take a vacation, or go out to eat more often. Some of us might even put a huge down payment on that house that has been sitting vacant for a year or so. Now that would stimulate the economy.

Since the stimulus bill is law and it's over $1 trillion, I ask again — why can't we have our fair share? If banks, insurance companies, automakers and big business can have theirs, why can't we have ours?

I don't know how to start a petition but I am happy to start this one. Dear Federal Government: We want our fair share.

No. 1 Charlie Lybrand, No. 2 ________?

CHARLIE LYBRAND

Charleston County Register of Mesne Conveyance

Cloudmont Drive

Hollywood

Meaning of life

This is the "bonehead" pastor from Summerville — again.

I am more than a little tired of all this atheist, secular humanism stuff. If you tie any one of these guys to a railroad track, and the "7:01" comes roaring down that track, I can assure you they won't be yelling out for anyone but God.

Most of these people have either been really hurt by their church experience in the past, or they just want attention by their position.

I still am somewhat confused how they can spend so much time talking about someone they say doesn't exist. But then, I'm sure my confusion is just the result of being a "bonehead."

I will add this. My God can heal their wounded hearts and show them real peace and happiness. That's what He did for me, many years ago in the midst of my struggles for the true meaning of life.

PASTOR MIKE MOORE

Pimpernel Street

Summerville

Culture of life

Your recent Faith & Values article revealed a sad fact that almost 20 million women in developing countries had "unsafe" abortions in 2003. But whether abortions are safe or unsafe, the child perishes. No one really wins from abortions, except the industry that performs them.

Most of us in the pro-life movement are peace loving, non-confrontational and eager to assist families in raising their children before and after they are born.

For over 20 years, the Lowcountry Pregnancy Center in North Charleston has been providing pregnant women (and often the fathers) life-affirming alternatives to abortion. The Pregnancy Center provides counseling, free ultrasounds, on-site OB/GYN services, basic needs such as clothing, formula and furniture. It provides parenting education as well.

Women do not have to feel alone or pressured into having an abortion because the Lowcountry Pregnancy Center (lowcountrycpc.org/) offers a culture of life and value for each woman, man and the child they serve.

MARY McLELLAN

Kilmarnock Way

Charleston

Taking sides

I absolutely have to take Rush Limbaugh's side: I do not want socialized health care; I do not want socialized taxes; I do not want bigger government; I do not want money printed by the buckets full so that I have to take a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread; I do not want a global government; I do not want my children and grandchildren to have to pay the debt that Barack Obama and the Democrats are running up (8,500 pieces of pork?); I do not want to pay for somebody else's house or car; I do not want a socialized America!

Do I want Obama to fail? Yes! I hope and pray that Obama fails.

WOODY AYDLETTE

Fort Johnson Road

Charleston

Be responsible

What a privilege it is to live in a neighborhood that provides walking paths for our energetic four-legged family members. I walk our puppy every day through some of Crowfield Plantation.

I am disappointed that many dog owners let their dogs "do their business" and leave it where it lands, sometimes in the middle of the walkway.

It only takes a minute to pick up after your dog and there are many garbage receptacles along the way .

Worse than dodging the droppings is all the broken glass on and off the path. I carry my puppy in certain areas because of this. My advice to the people responsible for the glass is: Keep the glass container in your vehicle, or drop it in a garbage receptacle.

Use the aggressive energy you expend to throw the bottle by volunteering at an animal shelter. You will be rewarded by the animals you help, and you may even see a puppy with damage to its little paws due to walking on glass.

JUDY RYAN

Crowfield Plantation

North Charleston