To the editor:

This past week provided several local, state, and national issues that deserve all citizens attention, comments and opinions, they are: 1) Guess the Mount Airy News feels as the Fayetteville Observer; if your conservative and oppose liberal policies don’t say anything and let the erosion continue quietly. 2) The City Council needs to heed the advice of Mr. Pritchard, Springthorpe, and Shaw and move to a run-off election thereby safeguarding the democratic rights of citizens and proving the fiscal common sense of Mount Airy. 3) The County finds itself in an unenviable situation with next year’s budget. One solution to our local budget problems would be the repeal of the 17th Amendment; thereby giving the states a voice in the need for those federal mandates. Our County and City boards should draft resolutions to our state legislators demanding they do the same to the federal government to repeal the 17th Amendment. This will go a long way to restoring our Republic and also add some teeth to the 10th Amendment. Hence simplifying the local budget process. 4) Many of our unemployed have dropped out of the workforce because they have no incentive to look for work with almost two years of state and federal unemployment benefits. I see Governor McCrory as being fiscally responsible with his actions to reduce state benefits there by providing a little incentive to look for employment even if that employment might be somewhat beneath you for now. How many people out there are losing their homes because they cannot find a job in their specific field and are too proud or arrogant to accept employment they consider embarrassing or beneath them. It is called survival, it is called self reliance. 5) While the Mount Airy News obviously have the constitutional right to print their opinion they also have the responsibility to provide fair and balanced opinion to their readership. It has become apparent they are not to enamored with Governor McCrory as they have published four or five and maybe six negative opinion articles in the first six weeks of McCrory’s administration. My guess is they did not do that to former Governors Easley and Perdue. 6) The federal budget is a mess and there is no leadership being provided from any corner in Washington. Scare tactics and the blame game is all that our elected officials can come up with. Are we so worried that we cannot cut 2 cents of every dollar spent and not survive? Give me a break! Stand up America, throw these knuckleheads out on their ear, and demand our local, state, and federal governments be constitutionally bound in their authority or suffer the consequences.

James Wagner

Mount Airy