First step to decrease deficit is raising retirement age
Re: “The Tea Partiers should get serious,” Feb 17
Tea partiers can show they are serious by getting behind tough reforms like raising the retirement age. Both the average lifespan and the average time in the work force have gone up, so raising the retirement age is just common sense. Common sense reform is an excellent place to start for a movement like the Tea Party, since it is easily understood and something we can all agree on. If we want to defeat the deficit, we’ll need to back the hard decisions first.
Jackie McNamara
Falls Church
Don’t call us ‘the handicapped’
Re: “Police: Abuse of handicapped-parking spaces rises,” Feb. 8
As a wheelchair user, I was very pleased to see an article addressing the rampant abuse of parking spaces reserved for people with disabilities. What I was not happy to see was the antiquated language used to refer to me, and my brothers and sisters with disabilities. Terms like “the handicapped” and “wheelchair bound” are not only outdated, they are downright offensive and go against everything we are trying to build in today’s modern disability rights movement. I’m not coming from an extreme perspective in denouncing the use of these terms, either; both are cautioned against in the AP Stylebook. I would hope that The Washington Examiner would consult or at least reference AP Style before going to print. In this case, it appears as if neither the editor nor the author bothered to do so.
Matt Barkley
Fairfax
Stop whining, Washington, and enjoy the snow
Re: “Monster storm crushes region” Feb. 7
Snow? What snow are you talking about? I live in Minnesota and what you got in Washington is, by our standards, a dusting. When you are snowed in for a week without lights or heat, then you have the right to complain. Only so many plows can plow just so much snow in one day. So as we say in Minnesota, shut up and tough it out – you will be plowed out sooner or later. Enjoy the free time.
Tom Neuhaus
Northfield, MN
