Religious Right is the one still fighting the culture war Re: “In Iowa, from an evangelical church to Queer Studies,” Dec. 13
It’s a bit odd that Byron York is surprised by the fact that, in spite of the primacy of voters’ concerns about the economy, there is no truce in the culture wars. How can there be a truce when religious extremists like Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry have doubled down on their anti-gay rhetoric like never before?
It is quite ironic that in the year that America flipped from majority opposition to same-sex marriage to majority support for same-sex marriage, the majority of Republican presidential candidates have waged the most hateful, outspoken anti-gay campaign ever.
The Religious Right started the culture wars many years ago. They will end only when the Religious Right stops trying to impose its collective religious values on the rest of us. After all, isn’t that what freedom of religion is all about?
David Lampo
Alexandria
Rockville Pike merge lane needed to handle BRAC traffic
Re: “Road to Nowhere planned for Montgomery County,” Local Editorial, Dec. 8
The Examiner got the facts wrong once again. The Base Realignment and Closure process increased the work force at what is now Walter Reed National Military Medical Center by one-third and doubled daily visits to the campus. If unmitigated, this dramatic growth would put tremendous stress on the Rockville Pike/Cedar Lane intersection, already among the most congested in Montgomery County.
Among the many projects planned by the state and county — and now fully funded, thanks largely to our congressional delegation — is a new lane that extends north from the Navy’s gate on Rockville Pike across Cedar Lane. This lane, which will merge into the northbound through lanes on Rockville Pike north of Cedar Lane, will expedite large volumes of Beltway-bound traffic leaving the Medical Center campus without clogging the intersection.
This project has been discussed by the State Highway Administration at the county’s BRAC Implementation Committee, or BIC, meetings over several years. SHA is aware of the concerns of those who live near the project and has met with neighborhood residents to discuss those issues directly.
For The Examiner to suggest that BIC Chairman John Carman had a conflict of interest is completely uninformed. This is an SHA project, not a county project. Mr. Carman’s only role was to moderate any discussions, which he has done openly and fairly for nearly five years.
To suggest that the county “exhume the hidden 30-year-old Beltway exit” that “lies buried under a local park” is yet another in a series of outlandish assertions. The Examiner should know that any project on the Beltway would be a state, not county, responsibility. The fact is that the SHA has determined that a new Beltway ramp to the Navy base isn’t feasible for a number of reasons, mostly relating to highway safety, impacts on environment and neighborhoods, and low cost-effectiveness.
Phil Alperson
Montgomery County BRAC Coordinator
Rockville
Editor’s note: The local editorial suggested that SHA, not Montgomery County, conduct an independent traffic study that includes the buried Beltway ramp, and voiced concerns first raised by Montgomery County residents regarding Mr. Carman, whose consulting firm works for White Flint developers.
Middle class pays social costs of hiring illegal immigrants
Re: “A cautionary tale on government spying,” Dec. 8
Iain Murray and David Bier’s criticism of the Legal Workforce Act of 2011 (H.R. 2885) is a perfect example of special-interest hogs at the government feeding trough.
As a condition of passing the 1986 immigration amnesty, a work-site citizenship verification system was supposed to be implemented that did not rely on easy-to-counterfeit state driver’s licenses and Social Security cards. Many employers hire illegal aliens to boost their profits via low wages. As a consequence of special-interest lobbying, only a tiny percentage of employers use the counterfeit-resistant E-Verify system. The annual multibillion-dollar social welfare costs associated with hiring illegal aliens are imposed on mostly middle-class taxpayers.
In short, illegal immigration’s benefits are privatized but the costs are socialized. Taxpayers would experience relief if the government “subsidy” of non-enforcement of immigration laws was ended.
Gene Nelson
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
