Obama has won another supporter

For several months, I have been wavering between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Until her "60 Minutes" interview, I had been for Hillary. When asked about rumors of Barack being a Muslim, her evasiveness seemed calculated to gain political advantage. That is the kind of politics Bush-Rove gave us. I want a candidate who can fight, but who fights clean.

But I also needed to know how Obama would deal with difficulty, and the first real difficulty Obama has encountered during this long campaign was in his fateful proximity to a man who had condemned America.

In his speech last week addressing race, Obama repudiated Jeremiah Wright's vitriolic remarks, but he did not reject him. He spoke of all the good he had achieved and inspired, of the history of institutionalized racism that had left its imprint of anger and bitterness on Rev. Wright's generation.

It was Obama's response to the controversy over Wright that finally landed me in his camp. Because there he was, between a rock and a hard place. What would he do?

He put one foot on the rock, one foot on the hard place, and stood taller because of it. He said this is who I am, this is what I'm made of, these are the people who shaped me and brought me to this day and to what I believe. Here I stand. Will you stand with me?

Yes, I will stand with Barack Obama. And proud to be there.

Cristina White

Corvallis

Enterprise zone just corporate welfare

A Benton County-Corvallis enterprise zone would be a bad idea.

The city pleaded with us Corvallis residents to vote to raise our property tax rates last November, stating that basic services would go lacking otherwise. And more money still is needed.

In the Gazette-Times story "Councilors to revisit tax ideas" (Feb. 16), Ward 1 Councilor Bill York stated that "the city is heavily reliant on property tax revenues" and "the cost of providing current services is growing faster than property tax revenues are increasing."

Businesses not paying their fair share of taxes would put additional strain on our existing infrastructure without a commensurate tax inflow.

Studies commissioned by Associated Oregon Industries and the state economic development department showed that companies locate based on the very things that property taxes pay for - good schools, transportation infrastructure, an educated workforce, police, fire, etc.

Local property taxes are a small percentage of a business operating expense and not an important factor.

An enterprise zone is a euphemism for corporate welfare, and we need less corporate welfare, not more, at both the national and local levels.

According to the Oregon Center for Public Policy, during this budget cycle (2007-09), corporations will pay just 4.5 percent of Oregon's income taxes, while personal income taxpayers will pay 95.5 percent. In the 1973-75 budget cycle, corporations paid 18.5 percent of all income taxes.

Either corporate America doesn't think our country is worth paying for, or they don't want to pay their fair share.

Ted Daum

Corvallis

OSU should consider women coaches

The Gazette-Times has run several articles over the past couple of months about potential candidates for the Oregon State University men's basketball coaching vacancy.

I find it interesting that two of the biggest names in college basketball have not been part of the conversation: Pat Summitt from the University of Tennessee and C. Vivian Stringer from Rutgers.

In 2008 would an academic department at OSU conduct a job search and not even consider qualified women candidates?

OSU takes great pride in diversity and equal opportunity.

I'm amazed that discussions of coaches for men's teams are still in the dark ages - it's OK to have men coach women's sports (for example, Geno Auriemma coaches women's basketball at the University of Connecticut), yet when openings occur in men's sports qualified women are not even on the radar.

This is an opportunity for OSU to demonstrate that it's a progressive university.

It could be just the thing OSU needs to get men's basketball back to a level we all can be proud of.

So if not Pat Summit or Vivian Stringer, how about other female coaches who have the talent but don't get the opportunity because of their gender?

If there are any good reasons why a woman cannot coach a Division I men's basketball team, I'd love to hear them. I cannot think of any that are valid in the 21st Century.

Bob Lillie

Philomath

Fed money policy carries big risks

Since 1980, the Federal Reserve has had to, about once every two years, directly or indirectly bail out financial miscreants.

While the national debt has expanded to finance the Iraq war, the Fed also has been pumping money into the international financial system to stabilize markets.

The U.S. economy is facing unprecedented challenges - record fuel prices, ethanol production driving up food costs, a hollowed-out manufacturing sector and a currency with increasingly weak purchasing power.

Low U.S. interest rates and cheap U.S. assets in dollar terms have made it possible for foreign firms to buy U.S. assets with cheap borrowings, controlling more of our economy.

As Bush scrambles to address a mounting crisis of confidence in U.S. financial markets, U.S. investors face an uncertain financial future.

Ben Bernanke may find his fix-it kit full of blunted tools as he tries to restore confidence and deal with the legacy of Alan "Bubbles" Greenspan.

Bush's idea of privatizing Social Security and leaving the financial future of most citizens solely in investment portfolios run by the denizens of Wall Street carries a risk premium that most people would not want to pay.

Bill Jenkins

Corvallis