This is Viewpoints for Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015

Best is bad

Had our Bibb County Board of Education simply used common sense, the taxpayers would not be facing millions of dollars in rewards for our former superintendent. Due to the insurance companies going on record of not covering them if found guilty of breaching their contract, the taxpayers will pay it all.

Does anybody care that our BOE is at best incompetent and at worst violating their trust.

— Joe Hubbard

Macon

Support VA legislation

I urge you to support H.R. 216, the "Department of Veterans Affairs Budget Planning Reform Act of 2015," sponsored by Rep. Corrine Brown of Florida and passed by the House in March. This bipartisan bill would provide an organized, coordinated, budgeting blueprint for the VA to effectively fund and manage the various programs for which it is the steward. The Air Force Sergeant's Association represents all current and former Air Force members and, as a member, I see this legislation as a priority for this Congress to take action on.

Specifically, this act would require the VA to provide Congress with a transparent, future-years planning document with budget estimates with each VA activity. It would also require a quadrennial management/budgeting/effectiveness review, similar to that of the Department of Defense. It would also direct the secretary to designate a chief strategy officer to advise the secretary on long-range VA strategy and implications. The focus of all of this would be to address the U.S. commitment to veterans and the resources necessary to meet that commitment.

I urge the Senate to support H.R. 216. The mission of the VA is so important and its resources and expenses so huge, that our nation must ensure organized, efficient, cost-effective management. This legislation would provide a strong step toward that goal. I respectfully request a response so that I may know where you stand on this matter.

— Earl Strobush

Hawkinsville

Changing names

I see that on Nov. 5, the seventh White House Tribal Nations Conference of the Obama Administration provided leaders from 567 federally recognized tribes the opportunity to interact directly with high-level federal government officials and members of the White House Council on Native American affairs. They continued, according to a media release, "to build on the president's commitment to strengthen the government-to-government relationship with Indian Country and to improve the lives of American Indians and Alaska Natives with an emphasis on increasing opportunity for Native youth."

So far, everything sounds good for Obama's bragging rights and for one group of his citizenry. As important as this meeting was for the welfare of all Americans, why in this world do we always use our children to claim worthwhile measures while in the same breath, use our children to claim unworthy actions in pushing to rid our chosen school mascots loved by all, as somehow a disgrace if they choose Indian names or any form of American Indian existence.

Is it our government and special interest groups who are pushing America Native Indians into believing it is a disgrace to have children choose such American names as mascots? Is it our government pushing corporations like Adidas to pay for children to be persuaded to change their mascot names? What in the world are we thinking?

Instead of picking on innocent children and athletes, why not pick on U.S. states, cities, counties, towns, communities, creeks, rivers, lakes, villages, land forms, etc., all named in the honor of American natives.

Here is a list of a few and how many Native American names they have given honor to. We have 26 states with names of Native America Origin. Then we have a list by states and the number of those named within:

Alabama 50, Alaska 2, Arizona 2, Arkansas 2, California 3, Connecticut 3, Florida 14, Georgia 17, Idaho 7, Illinois 3, Indiana 5, Iowa 2, Kansas 1, Louisiana 6, Massachusetts 4, Michigan 5, Minnesota 51 with 13 creeks, rivers, lakes, streams and 1 landform, Mississippi 4, Missouri 2, Nebraska 11 plus 41 villages, towns and cities, New Hampshire 1, New York 18, North Carolina 35, North Dakota 1, Ohio 15, Oklahoma 3, Pennsylvania 48, Rhode Island 1, South Carolina 78, Tennessee 6, Texas 3, Utah 10, Virginia 24, Washington 57, Wisconsin 20 and Wyoming 1.

Please give note to all the above who have so honored the Native American for hundreds of years, that the federal government, Adidas and special political groups are demanding all such honor is now looked upon as a disgrace. So get busy calling all kinds of state and local councils together to renounce same.

— Faye W. Tanner

Macon

Inquiring minds

Aw gee, another self-promotional column from C. Jack Ellis (Nov. 25). The Telegraph looks to be all in for the next mayoral candidacy of this well-worn politician, no matter the mess he made of running the city last time. I was not surprised when Ellis resorted to prevarication to paint himself as a victim (naturally) in Macon circa 1964. I hung out a lot at the Macon Krystals in 1964. As a bag boy/floor mopper at the Westgate Krystal in the big Apple in '64, the Krystal was about the only place I could afford to eat. There was no discrimination at Krystal and no one I know remembers any racially motivated "removals" of customers. That just did not happen. However, I am white as a bowl of grits and I was thrown out of Krystal twice. I misbehaved both times and deserved removal. So, what is it C. Jack? Bad behavior, imagined racism? Inquiring minds barely want to know.

— John Brogden

Warner Robins

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 5:41 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015 ."