Let people decide value of methods

The April 21 from Richard LeMaster stated, “Anyone who breaks the law should have to pay the penalty.” He was discussing the supposed use of torture by the Bush administration. What a crock!

Has he been tortured? I have. What President Bush was given to sign off on was based upon the input from our allies, and the best legal advice our president had at that time. This advice was given to him with the deaths of 3,000-plus Americans still fresh. It was given to congressional committee members who agreed, it was acceptable, some of whom (Democrats) now want to deny their involvement.

How was I tortured? I was not alone. I received the standard treatment rendered to Air Force officers when they went through the Air Force Survival Training Program at Stead Air Force Base, Reno, Nevada. During the Escape & Evasion Course, I was placed in a wooden box four feet square, about 20-inches high, lying on the ground. I had to curl up and place myself into this box. Once in, they placed large stones around and on my body so I could not move and placed a lid over the box.

They didn’t put any additional specific bugs in there, like was described in the report. I just ignored whatever bugs were there naturally.

The U.S. signed the Geneva Convention, and since World War II, none of our enemies have honored that Convention. I guess Mr. LeMaster thinks that’s OK.

I agree with Dick Cheney: Release everything we learned, let Americans decide if the results were worth waterboarding. I have friends who were killed by the torture of the Vietnamese. Lt. Lance Sijan received the Congressional Metal of honor.

You cannot die by waterboarding — you just think you can.

William B. Secrest, LtCol USAF Retired. South Shore



EFCA would hike construction costs

Something just isn’t right. In the middle of a recession, our representatives in Congress are considering legislation that would put jobs at risk and would raise the cost of construction.

That “something” is the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Essentially, the bill would eliminate the secret ballot in union-organizing elections and replace it with a “card check” system. Under card check, anyone — employers, co-workers, union organizers — would be able to see the votes, making it easier to pressure workers and influence their vote.

A recent study by the University of Chicago concluded that for every 1.5 million new union members signed up through EFCA, the economy would lose 600,000 jobs elsewhere.

Kentucky’s unemployment rate is already at a 22-year high. It is currently more than 9 percent, and in recent months has risen in 119 of the state’s 120 counties. Boyd County’s jobless rate in February was better at 7.7 percent, but still higher than it was a year earlier.

The Kentuckiana chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors has nearly 500 contractors, subcontractors and associate members across Kentucky, and is the open shop voice for 89 percent of the state’s construction workforce. That’s more than 76,000 open-shop workers who earn their living by construction.

Implementing a card check system would shift the balance away from the free-enterprise philosophy shared by our companies and our workforce. Instead, less competitive workplace conditions brought in by a growing union presence could usher in higher construction costs.

Kentucky representatives John Yarmuth and Ben Chandler have supported EFCA legislation in the past. Mr. Yarmuth has said EFCA would be a “return to the American way of doing things.”

Funny. We thought America stood for fair rules, hard work and free-market competition.

William R. Parson, President & CEO, Associated Builders and Contractors of Kentuckiana, Louisville