Change We Can’t Believe!
As a longtime libertarian, I very much enjoyed David Von Drehle’s insightful and entertaining look at the movement [“The Party Crashers,” Nov. 8]. However, most libertarians I know consider themselves not right wing but members of a distinctive political movement that is neither right nor left. And libertarians are not “pro-marijuana.” Although we strongly favor relegalizing marijuana (and other drugs), it’s not because we endorse drug use. It’s because we are pro-freedom.
James W. Harris, RYDAL, GA.
Throughout your issue, you refer to Rand Paul–a man who would shred social programs in favor of big-fish-eat-little-fish unfettered capitalism–as a “populist.” Paul’s politics are about as far from populism as one can possibly get.
Alexander Neilson, SEATTLE
I found the cover question–“But can they govern?”–patronizing. The answer? They can’t be any worse! Americans have finally discovered that with a little effort, we can effect change. If winners Marco Rubio and Paul don’t act as they promised, out they go until we finally elect people with integrity.
Shelley Perkins, DEMING, N.M.
What scares me most is that there is no discussion of the qualifications of these candidates with respect to education or problem solving. We choose leaders on the basis of slogans and attack ads–and hope they have the skills to manage the federal government, a multitrillion-dollar organization.
Lee Jaslow, SPRINGDALE, ARK.
To feature Meg Whitman, Rubio, Paul and Christine O’Donnell on your cover a few days before the critical midterm elections is reprehensible. Why not simply endorse them?
Thomas Hauck, GLOUCESTER, MASS.
I.O.U., U.S.A.
In “Debt Doesn’t Matter,” Zachary Karabell misses the point [Nov. 8]. Voter anger is not about government spending. It is about the ineffectiveness of the spending. Almost $800 billion in stimulus money was spent creating public-sector jobs, as well as temporary construction jobs that will end and then require more unemployment wages. If the Administration proposes a new spending plan aimed at creating private-sector manufacturing and service-industry jobs, the Republicans and the voters will support it.
Hemant Shah, IRVINE, CALIF.
Karabell says that relatively speaking, the federal debt burden has not changed much in 20 years. The U.S. Treasury reported federal debt in the first quarter of 2010 at 89% of GDP, up from 51% in 1988. While the amount the government spends servicing that debt is low now, any spike in interest rates would change that in a fat hurry. And rates won’t stay near zero for long.
John Knoerle, CHICAGO
Going Nuclear
Re “A Reactor Revival” [Nov. 8]: How does Joe Klein propose to get the huge amount of nuclear waste from these reactors to a “safe” repository so no one is harmed? The nuclear-waste transport and storage solutions of both Japan and France are spotty at best. Also, each reactor is a terrorist target. The reality of nuclear power is grim at best.
Pete Sipp, ASHEVILLE, N.C.
We are not any closer to energy independence than we ever were, and it’s been too long. I live on the St. Lawrence River. With some careful planning, 10 reactors could be built along this river, and they would displace fewer than 2,500 people. It’s time this country embraced nuclear power. Let’s be smart and do it.
Dave Berger, ALEXANDRIA BAY, N.Y.
Detroit’s Melting Pot
What the Arab Americans are doing for Detroit is a lot like what the Chinese did for Flushing, N.Y., and other immigrant groups have done elsewhere [“Detroit’s Unlikely Saviors,” Nov. 8]. It’s just one more reason for a sensible national immigration policy for our nation of immigrants. It has taken hardworking, entrepreneurial people from other lands to see value in and revive places we natives have tired of and discarded. That’s something decades of city planning failed to do.
John L. Gann Jr., GLEN ELLYN, ILL.
Please recycle this magazine and remove inserts or samples before recycling
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Inside Elon Musk’s War on Washington
- Introducing the 2025 Closers
- Colman Domingo Leads With Radical Love
- Why, Exactly, Is Alcohol So Bad for You?
- The Motivational Trick That Makes You Exercise Harder
- 11 New Books to Read in February
- How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
- Column: Trump’s Trans Military Ban Betrays Our Troops
Contact us at letters@time.com