Hixson Pike deserves same attention as other major routes in and out of town
From driving around Chattanooga over the last 10 years, it is obvious that the most influential people when it comes to getting roads repaved or repaired are not from north of the river.
I drive down Hixson Pike every day. It is embarrassing to see how pitiful that road is all the way from Northgate to downtown.
McCallie Avenue has been repaved as well as Brainerd Road, two of the major routes into and out of town.
I just think that it is time for the paving fund from the last budget year as well as the current year to allocate money necessary to bring that road into the 21st century.
Would like to hear from the Chattanooga City Council on this.
Bill Marsh
Ask yourself who the 'idiots' really are
A friend asked me: "How many idiots does it take to change a light bulb?" His answer: "Ten! One to hold the bulb, and nine to turn the ladder!" So who are the idiots?
Nikita Khrushchev said: "You Americans are so gullible. No, you won't accept communism outright, but we'll keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you'll finally wake up and find you already have communism."
History has proven that there are eight areas of control: Health care (control health care, control the people); poverty (increase poverty level, poor people will not fight back if you provide everything for them); debt (increase debt to unsustainable levels and create more poverty by raising taxes); gun control; welfare (take control of food, housing, income); education; religion; class warfare (eliminate the middle class to create more discontent and make it easier to tax the wealthy and support the poor).
So, who are the idiots mentioned above? Have you watched the news lately? What's happening to Portland, Seattle, Chicago and New York, to name a few? Are the mayors the idiots? What party do they belong to? A blind man can see what's happening to our great country.
Ed Huber, Copperhill, Tennessee
Clothespin-on-nose OK for Biden voter
Wow! The surprising Lisa Benson cartoon on a recent Free Press editorial page, showing how the Biden and Harris campaign can finally stop the stench our current divider-in-chief has created with his thousands of (fact-checked) lies and divisive "us against them" political tactics, was a fine olive branch from the normally right wing, and often ultra right-wing positions the editor promulgates.
The scene showing a blue-capped average Joe wearing Biden/Harris 2020 clothespins on his nose was a breath of fresh air for all true American patriots, whether they choose to support either Republican or Democratic positions. As an independent, I usually desire certain policies from each side.
Democracy will always be messy, but thanks for pointing out it won't be as stinky and corrupt in a Biden/Harris White House. We don't have to hate each other in politics. Most of the time we can simply agree to disagree. Isn't that how most relationships of any kind survive?
Frank Chambers, Cleveland, Tennessee
The right way to answer a question?
How a vice presidential candidate should answer a question: "President Trump says he has heard you were not born in the USA and therefore not able to be VP?"
Answer: "I'm sorry but we do not respond to questions from mentally challenged people; we really want them to get the care they need."
Next question please!
Nelson R. Sullivan, Hixson
Watch frequency of PILOT deals
Southern Champion Tray company received a sweet deal from County Mayor Jim Coppinger when he eliminated its county tax obligation for at least five years. City Mayor Andy Berke did not see it the same way.
The city is not stating any reason for not going along on the deal, but I believe it's because SCT was already set on its building site and had never planned to move away from Chattanooga.
PILOT programs are payment in lieu of taxes. In other words, no taxes will be paid by the company to the county treasurer. These deals are meant to lure companies to Chattanooga and should be put to a vote by referendum instead of being given to companies that were never planning to leave Chattanooga in the first place.
This lost revenue will be needed in the future, and I hope the voters will remember this when the county votes to raise our taxes because we aren't collecting enough from big businesses that net tens of millions of dollars annually.
Our county needs to stop passing these giveaways out like trick-or-treat candy and impress upon these businesses how much they need us and our city.
John Mathna
Not to step on toes, but the president ...
The last thing I am interested in is stepping on toes, regardless of religious, political, gender, racial or other orientation.
I found Donald Trump to be offensive from the first time he entered the political arena and was nominated as the Republican candidate. This has been reinforced during his presidency.
At this point, I also question his genuine interest and concern for all Americans, not just those he considers to be his "base" of voters. While establishing a "base" of reliable voters might be the objective of all politicians, divisiveness is in contrast to what we all need.
His governing response to the coronavirus might be understandable in some sense, based on concern for the economy, as well as the public health, but he seems to have done little beyond pushing responsibility for the health care crisis toward states and governors, rather than taking a unifying, solid posture at the federal level.
The result has been so obviously detrimental I don't understand why it is not patently obvious to everyone. He obviously wants to place the blame for this on individual states, mostly those with Democratic governors, but why is he not being held accountable?
Becky Young, Signal Mountain
Confederate monuments have no place in public
While it is true that many Southerners fought in the Civil War for a cause other than slavery, as a historian, I must say if there was no slavery, there would have been no war.
In their declarations of secession, at least three states stated they were leaving the union in order to preserve slavery.
There is a huge difference between past U.S. presidents and Confederate leaders. The former protected the U.S. while the latter did not.
Many people see the Confederate battle flag as racist or treasonous or both. That is why many right-wing hate groups display it. They know it has been used historically to scare and intimidate Blacks.
White supremacists murderously lynched more than 4,000 innocent Americans.
Confederate statues and monuments do not teach history because they don't provide context. They were mostly erected between 1890 and 1925, decades after the war. No other country in the world honors those who attacked their own country. It is bizarre.
The reason they went up was to send a clear message to Blacks - we are white supremacists and will kill you if we want.
We don't need monuments in public places to honor hatred.
Jack Montgomery