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Questions for Corker, Alexander on tax bill
I was perplexed by U.S. Sen. Bob Corker’s statement that he wasn’t even aware that a measure had been added to the tax reform bill that included a provision that would benefit him and others who hold large commercial real estate holdings. That raises a question: Would our Washington legislators actually support a measure without knowing exactly what was included in the measure? Heaven forbid!
And I wrote U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, asking if he could answer a specific question on whether the legislation still provided income tax deductions for health care matters. The reply was a response that did not answer the question. I sent a second email noting the first response did not answer the question asked. The second reply was identical to the first. That raises another question: Do our legislators actually care about their constituents?
And now a third question: Should the phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people” be officially revised to “government of the lobbyists, by the lobbyists, for the lobbyists”?
Harry Moskos, Farragut
Davenport ignored obvious problems
To University of Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport: Having read your syrupy annual letter, I see you have ignored two glaring problems during your first year in office. First, you stuck your finger in the eye of the legislature that funds you by reconstituting the utterly useless Office for Diversity and Inclusion. Clearly you buy into all the ultra-liberal pablum concerning higher education, which has almost destroyed the quality of higher education in this nation, as well as damaging free speech and the free exchange of ideas. Second, you hired an incompetent administrator at an exorbitant salary who has failed miserably and now will cost the university a fortune to remove. He and you deeply embarrassed the university before the entire nation, engendering much "Who would want to coach at Tennessee?" type of humor.
If this is the best you can do, I hope your tenure is short. Perhaps you would be more comfortable at an Ivy League or Big Ten university, where your ideas and interests would be echoed by one and all. You know, safe rooms with bean bags and crayons and coloring books for the poor, offended students?
Robert Gaines, Greensboro, N.C.