They're Just a Party

That Can't Say No

I guess I'm a member of PON (Party of No).

I'm getting tired of paying for -others. I'm worried now - I thought I had my retirement planned out. I have many friends from around the country who went to the tea party last spring and also the one last week. "Wealthy" friends who worked and could afford to go. They carried the signs that Ms. Dillon considered "offensive" (April 21 letter). Maybe the truth hurts. I guess she should join Paul Dunn (April 18), who thinks the tea party happenings are "raucous" and "hate-filled."

Mrs. Wheeldon's letter (April 21) is more truthful - over a million -participants, no arrests and no garbage left on the mall. Even The Washington Post got that right. Disruptions at these events are -outsiders trying to sully the name and cause. The group Crash the Tea Party tried its best to cause trouble in Washington, D.C.

I worked for the government for 23 years and saw a lot of waste. While government is certainly necessary, there is no reason for this constant growth. Really, 16,000 more IRS -workers to oversee Obamacare, which, by the way, they just -discovered will cost each of us more? It's the party of CSNBINOM (Can't Say No Because It's Not Our Money) Dillon should be worrying about.

"Taxes are the privilege of a free society" Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, but let's be reasonable. Overtaxing the middle class and small business owners is self-defeating. And forcing small businesses to provide health care for part-time minimum wage workers will cause even more businesses to close.

In the D.C. area, mall stores are not closing because the government is the fastest-growing industry. Let's pray for our leaders and give respect where respect is due and earned.

Mary Anne Lauer

Foxfire Village

The Edge Goes to Morgan

Republicans in Moore and Harnett counties are indeed fortunate this year in having such a great choice for our state senator in the election on May 4! We have to select between two outstanding candidates for this office.

For many years I have personally known both Sen. Harris Blake, the incumbent, and Richard Morgan, former co-speaker of the House of Representatives in Raleigh. Both are gentlemen of impeccable character, unquestionable integrity and keen intellect. However, a choice has to be made, and so we have to look to the future possibilities of each -candidate to more than adequately represent District 22 in the years before us.

I have to give the edge to Richard Morgan because of his younger age, his greater energy level, plus the experience he gained from his many years of leadership in the Republican Party in Raleigh.

Richard Morgan is the man whom we can follow with complete -confidence in the forthcoming years, and I recommend we Republicans cast our votes for him on the Republican ballot on May 4, 2010. Make the right choice!

Ted Shebs

Pinehurst

Pick Cal Cunningham

The Democratic primary is an important event for all registered Democrats and registered independents who want better representation in Washington.

Richard Burr, our incumbent senator, has approached his responsibilities more like a pastime than a real job. He has been identified as the member of the Senate who attends the most parties (i.e., social gatherings, not political events), and he seems more interested in spending time with K Street lobbyists than with his colleagues in committee and subcommittee hearings. In these challenging times, we need representatives who take their job responsibilities seriously.

Fortunately, there are a number of good, serious people seeking the Democratic nomination in November. I think the best of the lot, with the best chance of unseating Burr, is Cal Cunningham.

As an Army reservist who has spent over 900 days on active duty since 9/11, including a year on the ground in Iraq, Cal Cunningham has an intimate understanding of the needs of military personnel serving in war zones, those who have returned with injuries and the members of their families. He is committed to seeing that these needs are effectively met. A lifelong resident of the North Carolina, he understands the impacts of plant closures on communities and has developed the most comprehensive plan to support short- and long-term job creation.

Most importantly, Cunningham is committed to public service. That is why he ran for, and was successfully elected to, the N.C. Senate at age 26. That is why he switched his reservist status from the Navy to the Army after 9/11 because he understood that the real action, and need, would be on the ground, not at sea. That is why, in these most challenging of times, he chooses to give North Carolina, and the U.S., a thoughtful vote in the Senate.

Brian Deaton

Pinehurst