This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, August 24, 2016

A respectful reminder for Rep. Allen Peake

Macon’s Republican state Rep. Allen Peake is one of the most intelligent, sincere and genuine thinkers in state government. As a long-time but reluctant denizen of the Gold Dome, I hope he has a long and bright future in public service ahead of him.

In publicly expressing his reasonable concerns about supporting Donald Trump, Peake has made it clear that he worries about the “extinction” of his political party. It seems he is concerned that Trump’s stated position on immigration enforcement has driven Hispanic voters away from the Republican Party.

Addressing the deceitful immigration fairytale endlessly offered up to decent politicians like Peake from the anything-for-a-buck, globalist propagandists, a respectful dose of reality to all concerned: Lawlessness and a repeat of the “one time” immigration amnesty of 1986 would not create a great wave of Republican Hispanic voters.

Proof? Two short years after Ronald Reagan was persuaded by the Chamber of Commerce wing of the GOP to sign the ’86 amnesty bill, Republican presidential candidate George H.W. Bush received just 30 percent of the Hispanic vote — putting him in the John McCain (31 percent) and Mitt Romney (27 percent) range. McCain had promised legalization “on day one” in the White House. Romney took the pro-American “enforce the law” position.

Neither does advocating for an increase in legal immigration result in a Republican advantage. About 80 percent of all new immigrants want even more services and bigger government — and they vote Democrat to that end. So would legalized illegals. We are importing about a million legal immigrants every year, most of whom are poor and low-skilled. That fact should be discussed.

It is important to acknowledge that Hispanics are not a monolithic voting bloc. The proud Hispanic board members of our America-first, pro-enforcement effort here support Donald Trump and sanity on immigration.

Peake’s common-sense plea to fellow Republicans for a platform of smaller government and more personal responsibility should be matched with a well-informed position on immigration and recognition that Georgia has more illegal aliens than Arizona.

The Democratic-media complex will stop at nothing to inspire Trump’s defeat. We hope Rep. Peake will ignore them and stick with Donald Trump. We are.

No fooling

Trump’s recent campaign to get the minority vote will not be a success for the following reasons. He only offers his trickledown economics and this approach has not ever greatly benefitted the lower class. Law and order candidates generally mean more minority individuals in jail for longer times. Trump’s tax policy means help for the upper class and nothing for those who pay little or no federal taxes. Trump’s tariffs will drive up prices for the poor who buy more cheap goods. Conservative Republican Supreme Court judges are a threat to minority rights and could be for decades. Taking away Medicaid gains during Obama is a threat to all poor people in states that expanded Medicaid.

This is a man who believes that racial and religious profiling should be on the table as a tool for law enforcement. Where was Trump’s appeal to minorities before he tumbled in the polls? Why has Trumped not spoken at NAACP meetings and other minority group settings? All of us want to be talked with not talked at. All Trump has is “trust me” coming from a man who is daily setting records for false or misleading statements, according to fact checkers. I do not believe the minority communities will be fooled by Trump, nor will most of America come Election Day.

Left foot braking bad idea

The form letter from Trevor Frith that appeared in many other papers besides The Telegraph is a piece of very bad advice. Left-footed braking is a bad idea all the way around. The letter’s assertion that right-footed braking is too complicated is quite possibly one of the dumbest statements ever to waste space on the Viewpoints page. If moving their right foot from one pedal to the other is too complicated for a driver, they don’t need to be driving.

Left-footed braking is a bad habit that should never be encouraged nor adopted. The accelerator should be released when braking, which is why the right foot is used for both the accelerator and the brake. As a professional technician, I can tell you that left-footed brakers ride with their left foot resting on the brake pedal. This will keep the brake lights illuminated, which is distracting and confusing to other drivers. It also applies slight pressure to the hydraulics, keeping the brake pads engaged. This results in premature pad wear, noise, excess heat that degrades brake performance and warping of brake rotors.

Please do not listen to crackpot ideas like this. The conventional way, right-foot braking, is the best way.

Hurt and upset

I am so tired of getting mail for my daddy, who died in March 2014. The mail always comes addressed to him with his nickname. No businesses ever had his nickname, only his real name. The only way businesses could get his nickname is by looking through the obituaries in the paper. To me this is sickening. Here it is 2016 and my mother is still getting insurance offers, loan offers, etc. This is very hurtful and it upsets my mother. I have already contacted several to remove him from their mailing lists, but mail keeps coming. His name is Luther E. (Buddy) Hales. It makes me angry to think businesses don’t seem to care if they are upsetting the deceased’s family or spouse. You can’t return the mail if it does not have a postage stamp on it, the Post Office just throws it away.

Our family is still hurting from losing my father and this just adds to the pain. I’m sure we’re not the only ones with this mail problem so maybe this letter will help others too. Thank you for letting me vent.

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, August 24, 2016."