Read all that Constitution had to say on church, state

It constantly amazes me that the population of this country is so woefully ignorant as to the contents of the U.S. Constitution.

In her Nov. 25 letter, Wendy Haber cites the Constitution as containing an amendment regarding the separation of church and state. A total read of the referenced document reveals no such amendment. The only reference to religion in the Constitution appears in the First Amendment and reads as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof -. ”

It is interesting that many people completely ignore the last six words of that phrase. I will leave it to readers to attempt an interpretation but mine concludes that the framers of the Constitution were determined that the government of this country could never legally sponsor any one religion over another nor could it punish any group within a religious institution for their views. Free exercise includes the right to speak one’s mind on one’s religious views without restriction as to place and time or fear of punishment.

The best thing that any American can do is to read the Constitution — all of it. I keep a copy of this document on my desk.

Beverly Caron, Corvallis

Ironies abound in who gets bailed out and who doesn’t

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the largest shareholder in Citibank at 5 percent, was guaranteed $15 billion in taxpayer money Tuesday as his take of the $302 billion Citibank handout.

Late last week, the American auto industry, which employs more than two million Americans, was denied $25 billion in loans to continue operations.

“Come back in 10 days when you have a plan,” a righteous House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the the auto makers. The automakers were sternly reprimanded for flying their private jets to the congressional hearing.

Rep. Gary Ackerman, a Democrat from New York, called their private jet travel a “delicious irony.” Ackerman said the CEOs’ profligacy made Congress “a little bit suspicious” of their austerity pledges.

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal recently purchased an Airbus A380 “Flying Palace” for $330 million. This super-sized luxury airplane, bought and outfitted solely for his private comfort includes an office, a private dinning room and a gym featuring a steam bath, hot tub and exercise machines.

Delicious irony indeed.

Greg Kise, Corvallis

Corvallis voters were wise to reject senior center tax

Many Beaver fans who attended the OSU-Penn State game in early September added sights in the mid-Atlantic states to their trip: Hershey and Gettysburg Pa.,; Washington, D.C. My wife and I and our daughter toured western Pennsylvania and upstate New York, including my father’s boyhood home of LeRoy, N.Y.

That small village (population 5,000) appears to be dying. Collectively, the income, property, sales and unemployment taxes imposed by multiple levels of government — state, county, town, school district — are driving out young people, retirees, employers!

A manufacturer of electric insulators (for power poles) has moved nearly all its production to the south/overseas and soon might close operations in LeRoy forever. (Sounds like our Hewlett-Packard!)

Gone, then, will be the last of the factories/industrial complexes that once populated the Village, including the original JELL-O plant.

The defeated parks levy, Measure 02-65, could have made Corvallis “fatally unattractive” to prospective companies and even more “financially unattainable” for starter families.

Even if individual households could afford that proposed levy, not every local shop owner, young couple or senior citizen can digest a hefty increase in property taxes or user fees. Here, as in LeRoy, the share of retail spending taken in by small merchants continues to dwindle and public school enrollment continues to decline.

Hopefully each of our local governments will exercise restraint now, live within current revenues and prioritize/ reallocate spending, as necessary. The economy of our community can hardly afford to have additional costs thrust upon it today.

Hugh Richard White, Corvallis