Printed letters, May 17, 2011
Almost a century ago, on May 24, 1911, President William Howard Taft established Colorado National Monument under the Antiquities Act. With this bold act of leadership, President Taft set the Grand Valley on a century-long course of conservation that defines our way of life, breathes economic growth into our communities and engages citizen conservationists from all walks of life.
In the 1930s, Civilian Conservation Corps workers brought Rim Rock Drive to life, a project that to this day brings cyclists from around the world to bike in our monument, stay in our hotels and eat in our restaurants.
The good folks at the Colorado National Monument Association provide fantastic community support for scientific research and innovative educational programs that serve hundreds of kids each year. Monument staff estimate that more than 160,000 people hike the monument’s trails annually.
At Colorado Canyons Association, we salute the monument’s birthday because it helped blaze a trail of success for the three national conservation areas that our organization stewards. McInnis Canyons NCA, Gunnison Gorge NCA and Dominguez-Escalante NCA are all examples of citizen-led conservation in our region that were made possible because of the success of Colorado National Monument.
The Grand Valley’s growth in the last century has gone hand-in-hand with this conservation legacy. We salute our friends at Colorado National Monument and look forward to another century of conservation that continues to make the Grand Valley such a wonderful place to live, work and play.
JOE NEUHOF Executive Director Colorado Canyons Association
Republicans are the ones trying to save Medicare
The Congressional Budget Office recently revised its figures and said Medicare’s hospital-insurance trust fund will be bankrupt by 2024. It is politically expedient to deny the problem and snipe at those trying to save Medicare. Republicans have gone out on a limb and are acting responsibly.
One piece of Rep. Paul Ryan’s rescue plan is to have the wealthy pay higher premiums. Did you know that today, if you receive Medicare and have an annual income of over $170,000, you pay a higher premium? Under Ryan’s plan, that is expanded and retirees who can afford to pay a little more will be paying a higher premium.
Democrats hammer the fact that, under Ryan’s plan, Medicare is being replaced with a voucher system. That’s simply not true for those currently on Medicare or over age 55. Ryan’s plan makes it more likely those on Medicare today will be able to keep their benefits for the remainder of their lives. Republicans are trying to save Medicare.
The longer you ignore a problem the greater the damage. We all hate it when one of those warning lights comes on in our cars, but we know better than to ignore it. If Democrats continue to impede progress, by 2024 (per CBO) the Medicare system will be bankrupt and severe cuts will be needed. It is the poor, not the rich, who will suffer most.
The GOP is the fiscally responsible party, including saving Medicare.
Penry’s Obama claim a right-wing concoction
Oh, thank goodness for the editorial enlightenment brought to us on Friday the 13th by one Josh Penry.
Penry, being the local stalwart of conservative ideals and right-wing concoctions, offers up his position that “there’s reason to believe that Osama bin Laden would never have been found at all” if Barack Obama had been president on Sept. 11, 2001.
Playing Penry’s game, let me surmise that indeed, if Barack Obama had been the president on 9/11, the attack would never have happened in the first place. I don’t know that to be a reality, any more than Josh Penry does about his nonsense.
I mean, really, as to an argument whether or not Americans can feel safe with a Democratic president in the White House, I’ll go with Obama any day! You know, Obama, that American citizen guy.