THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS: OPINION

Editorials, Columns, Letters to the Editor

President George W. Bush elicited some snickers from pundits and late-night comedians a few years ago when he uttered the word "switch grass" in his State of the Union Address. But the scraggly, tall-growing plant has real potential to produce cellulosic ethanol -- and to reduce the country's dependence on Venezuelan or Saudi Arabian crude.

The president's point, made in the context of a pitch for kicking our debilitating oil addiction, was that the country should explore all options in its search for energy alternatives and independence. State Rep. Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, has come up with an energy source that makes switch grass look downright boring and conventional. He wants to convert road kill and livestock carcasses into kilowatts for lighting and heating homes and businesses.

I have attended Calvary Church for more than 20 years. After reading the comments by the Rev. Ed Dobson ("Walking the walk," Press, Dec. 25), I am grateful that his teachings while at Calvary were not reflective of the viewpoints of Barack Obama. I couldn't imagine Rev. Dobson preaching that community organization trumped the Freedom of Choice Act, one publicly supported by Obama which would remove state restrictions on abortion.

I appreciated reading the editorial "New energy for Michigan -- MSU biofuels lab in Holland Township deserves state funding" (Press, Dec. 24).

Reading the column by Thomas Friedman ("Will Obama have the guts to raise the gas tax?" Press, Dec. 30) is a reminder of how the global warming/don't drill for oil/we need to change America's taste crowd is again trying to push their agenda.

Michigan voters in November overwhelmingly approved the use of marijuana for people with debilitating medical conditions. In fact, a majority of voters in every county supported the medical marijuana law, which garnered 63 percent of the vote. State officials can't deny the will of the people. What they must do is carefully craft guidelines to set-up a workable program. The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) should seek considerable public input before those regulations are finalized by April 4. The hearing it hosted in Lansing Monday was a good start.

The input of potential patients, caregivers, doctors, law enforcement and others is vital in crafting the rules that govern how marijuana is used medicinally. They are the ones who will be directly affected.

I hope I am not the only one shocked to see illegal immigrant Rodrigo Delacruz-Encarnacion's crime only carries a possible two years behind bars ("Driver pleads guilty," Press, Dec. 31).

As a former employee of Michigan's prison industry program, I would like to offer some perspective regarding The Press editorial "Freeing up private business" on Dec. 31.

You don't recycle? You're running out of excuses.

The decision by the Kent County Board of Public Works to build a $12 million "single-stream" recycling center not only will create a more efficient system for the county, it also will make the chore easier for homeowners.

With the single-stream plant, hand-sorting of recyclables will be unnecessary. Instead, automation, with a handful of employees backing it up, will separate paper, plastic and glass. County officials predict the facility will double the current plant's output of 15,000 tons a year, an expectation in line with the experience of other communities that adopted single-stream recycling. Operating costs will rise, but so will revenue from the sale of additional salvaged material.

The recent story about business airplane use ("Jet set still at it," Dec. 28) presents a misleading picture of business aviation in the United States. Every day, tens of thousands of well-managed and cost-conscious U.S. companies use aircraft to help them survive and compete in an intensely unforgiving marketplace.

Business aircraft can fly into many more airports served by commercial airlines, and can visit multiple sites in a single day when time is of the essence. That is why it is a critical link in our nation's transportation system and an important tool for businesses of all sizes.

Business aviation helps companies maximize employee productivity, reduce travel times and have the flexibility they need to quickly adjust to changing business circumstances and schedules. Many companies in the Grand Rapids area value the advantage offered by business aviation.

Regarding Marlee Cook-Parrott and her participation in the sensory-deprivation protest against wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ("No sight, no sound as Grand Rapids dancer joins 'freedom of information' 24-hour protest," MLive.com, Dec. 31), all I can do is roll my eyes. I mean, I'm sure she's a nice person and all, but come on people -- what is this really going to accomplish?

At the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon, this is basically another one of those "feel good about yourself" wastes of time. If you really want to bring attention to a plight, do something constructive like volunteering to help the poor, needy, underprivileged, etc.

Dr. Ed Dobson made front page news last week ("Walking the walk," Press, Dec. 25). How does one refute a respected former pastor of a local church who is willing to compromise the Ten Commandments by admittedly voting for a candidate for president who is clearly pro-death?

A major topic in this economic environment is jobs and job security. It is an important priority especially in Michigan, but before we get started on so-called "job creation" we need to become conscious of elements that are a significant part of our present problem.

We need to create jobs but the jobs have to create wealth and value. Doing something that doesn't need to be done at all is utter futility, but some politicians and work rule enthusiasts are prone to promote this folly. Job content and the manner in which it is executed needs to be consistent with the market value it is suppose to create or else it detracts from competitiveness or others are short-changed to compensate for the deficiency.

Achieving benefits by coercion, rather then from competitiveness inhibits a sustainable position in the market place unless there are sufficient thrusters in the same pay-grade to offset the productivity of the mediocre performers and the laggards.

This basic unfairness and work-place pressures will eventually cause thrusters to become laggards or depart and the uncompetitive factor sets in.

Accounting that does not recognize the costs in the time period in why they are incurred (legacy costs) are a significant part of the American automotive industry problem. It is way past the time politicians and industry chieftains should muster the moral courage to take the unpopular corrective action to solve the problems.

I had to laugh when Thomas Friedman's column, titled "Will Obama have the guts to raise the gas tax?" (Press, Dec. 30), called for Obama to raise the gas tax or impose a carbon tax in order to change the habits of American citizens towards more fuel efficient cars.

There are at least two major flaws in his thinking. First, how about using some of the stimulus money to drill for oil everywhere we can so as to make us less dependent on foreign countries that hate us, and keeping billions of dollars here in America? This will reduce oil and fuel costs and hence the cost of goods and services, which is exactly what we need in a recession.

Second, when you give any government more money they spend it and usually inefficiently. They're taking our hard earned money -- don't let them do it!

You've got Obama looking at raising fuel taxes and Granholm just tried to during the lame duck session. Are people willing to pay another $1 or $2 per gallon tax between the federal and state tax increases? I'm not. Demand they are efficient with what they have now before any taxes are raised. Everything we have or use has an oil base in some shape or fashion. In a recession you don't raise taxes.

All of us have had to cut back but the government just keeps growing. The government is terrible at prioritizing needs. We're not a socialist country but with this kind of thinking, we soon will be.

I am responding to the article about the Rev. Ed Dobson titled "Walking the walk" (Press, Dec. 25). I will not patronize the Rev. Dobson, but I must say I have much love for him, meaning spiritual respect. I am sure he is anticipating some negative responses to his vote for Democrat Barack Obama. Here are my concerns.

Jesus' troubling teachings influenced him to vote for Obama. No, Jesus does not compromise his word.

He said of Obama: "I felt, as an individual, he was closer to the spirit of Jesus' teachings than anyone else." How? By his words or by his associates? Either way, he has been very untruthful.

Obama was a community organizer (the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed). No, he was a politician and still is. He was seeking votes, not the favor of Christ.

The Rev. Dobson is an educated man, and must know who he really voted for. Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin, John Kerry, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Hillary Clinton, Jonathan Edwards and Joe Biden.

I just wonder how these men of God voted: Rick Warren, Chuck Colson, Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Chuck Swindoll. Maybe the Rev. Dobson knows something they don't.

E-mail a letter to the editor for publication online and in print: pulse@grpress.com Please keep letters to less than 250 words and include your full name, home address and phone number.

Einstein said no problem could be solved by the same level of consciousness that created it. Unfortunately, our governor, legislators and many of our K-12 leaders have disregarded this advice with regards to high school achievement. They keep moving the same variables around -- curriculum, schedules, time-frame for recovery -- but they keep getting the same results.

The answer to improving school achievement is simple: cure poverty.

Poor children are much more likely to start school unprepared with the foundation skills on which the curriculum depends, which means that poor children are much more likely to start behind their wealthier peers and never catch up. Why? Because the parents of poor children were once poor children themselves and are part of a cycle that is hard to break.

A child's first and most important teacher is her parent. Children whose parents read to them at home and go on to provide the expectation of good achievement are children who develop into students who do well in school. Waiting to address poor achievement until high school is far too late.

Instead of endlessly arranging and rearranging the desks in the classroom, let's do something meaningful: Let's support families. Let's work within communities to understand and value its culture and mutually establish an understanding of the importance of education and the expectation of high achievement.

Education itself is the cure to poverty, but unless the system of education is understood in a new way and administrated within a meaningful context, nothing will change.

E-mail a letter to the editor for publication online and in print: pulse@grpress.com Please keep letters to less than 250 words and include your full name, home address and phone number.