House bill is a blow to working Americans

Regarding "GOP takes on regulations" (Sept. 15): Make no mistake — H.R. 2587, also known as the Outsourcers' Bill of Rights, does nothing to create jobs. The bill, which was passed by the House last week, makes it easier for companies to ship good, American jobs overseas, a blow to union and non-union workers alike.

To protect a single business, the Boeing Corp., corporate-backed lawmakers stripped employees of recourse when companies unlawfully retaliate against them for exercising their rights. The right-wing politicians who voted for the bill aren't content to sacrifice only workers' rights to aid and abet corporate lawbreakers — they're willing to disadvantage employers who play by the rules, too.

When working Americans and responsible employers urgently need our support to restart the economy, it doesn't get more un-American than offering a free pass to alleged lawbreakers like Boeing.

Kimberly Freeman Brown • Washington, D.C.

American Rights at Work

Experts in business

In "GOP takes on regulations" (Sept. 15), Bill Lambrecht brings to mind an old saying: "An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less until he finally knows everything about nothing." It might also be said that the Obama administration wants to regulate business more and more to accomplish less and less until finally there is no business left to regulate. All of which leads one to conclude that the administrators fancy themselves to be experts.

Roger W. Collins • Defiance

Support job creators

President Barack Obama has proposed an American Jobs Act to put more Americans back to work, spur our economy and make our country a global leader in "next generation" manufacturing. The promise of small manufacturers to help achieve these goals should not go unnoticed.

The president's recent address to Congress centered on the proven theory that small businesses are, collectively, a pillar of economic stability and job creators.

That manufacturers' output expanded in August, albeit slightly slower, for the 25th consecutive month demonstrates growth. Small manufacturers were hit hard by the recession, yet they continue to generate thousands of jobs each year.

Investing in small manufacturing is why the U.S. Manufacturing Extension Partnership works with companies to optimize their innovation and productivity. For every $1 in federal funds spent by Missouri Enterprise, our local MEP, more than $75 is returned in new and retained sales. In 2010, we saw small manufacturers create or retain more than 1,100 jobs.

There are thousands of small businesses in Missouri that are working very hard each and every day to provide jobs and support our state and nation. Their tenacity is exemplary of America's strong will. With support from the public and private sectors, Missouri's small manufacturers can and will compete.

Dusty Cruise • Rolla, Mo.

President, Missouri Enterprise

Two homelands

The best and only way to create a lasting and successful Palestinian state is through negotiations with Israel. There is no way a U.N. end-run around mutual agreements can bring a better future for the Middle East. The Palestinian move at the United Nations violates many existing agreements and understandings that both sides accepted under which they promised not to take unilateral actions.

The Palestinian move cannot deliver the Palestinians a state, but it could set off violence in the territories and threaten the economy of the West Bank. Reference to the Palestinian "right of return" is a recipe for the destruction of Israel, the only homeland of the Jewish people. There need to be two homelands: one democratic one for the Jewish people and one for Palestinians. It cannot be a two-stage solution in which the second step of two states is no Israel.

Now, when extremists are fomenting violence throughout the Middle East, this is no time for irresponsible moves that could destabilize the region and destroy the calm that has prevailed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority for the past three years.

Miki Zimring • Clayton

Character at work

David Brooks' column "If it feels right ..." (Sept. 14) highlighted research in Christian Smith's book "Lost in Transition," which reports that young adults are unable to talk about morality. They struggled to respond to moral dilemmas and could not identify a personal moral dilemma. It is disheartening that our young adults, in Mr. Brooks' words, "don't have the categories or vocabulary to do so."

While I remain grateful that Mr. Brooks keeps the discourse about moral and character development alive, his conclusions are troubling. First, he implies that this is a youth problem. I wonder what most adults older than this sample would say in response to the same questions. Perhaps they would be just as ill-equipped to talk and think about morality. Second, this is representative of what is an eternal human malaise — that is, lambasting youth. There are classic quotes over the past 3,500 years ago that all claim that their youth are the worst ever. This is usually hyperbolic and inaccurate. Third, Mr. Brooks suggests that we are failing to provide our youth with a moral focus. He is overlooking the vast array of successes in moral and character education both here in St. Louis (we have 23 National Schools of Character, more than anywhere else in the world) and nationally (as well as around the world). The work of our Center for Character and Citizenship at UMSL and CHARACTERplus has made St. Louis an international showplace for how to do what Brooks suggests is not being done.

Marvin W. Berkowitz • St. Louis

University of Missouri-St. Louis

A changing culture

David Brooks' column "If it feels right ..." (Sept. 14) was surprising, considering his surprise regarding the depressing state of young people's moral lives. One has to wonder where Mr. Brooks has been this last half-century. Morality was the core from which the news was communicated prior to the overthrow of the Judeo-Christian culture in the 1960s.

Older folks were raised in a culture in which the idea of 'subjective" truth was contradictory. Opinion has become truth and vice versa. Redefining words — truth, family, etc. — is necessary to change culture. We live in a "create your own reality" culture in which "feelings" determine one's truth and/or reality, just as Mr. Brooks acknowledges in his column.

Truth has become whatever one wants to believe. Taken to its illogical conclusion, it can become impossible to lie because perception is the reality. That this reasoning is illogical doesn't matter. If truth is subjective, who is able to define logic and sense?

The key in Mr. Brooks' quest for answers is the establishment of the unnecessary and counterproductive federal Department of Education under then-President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s. Prior to that, the United States ranked No. 1 in the world in education. Nationalizing education removed it from parents and teachers at the cost of trillions of dollars.

Today's education system no longer is about teaching children. It is about promoting the National Education Association's politically correct agenda.

David Floyd • Maryland Heights

Keeping 'em busy

The way I look at it, as long as we have service stations, there should be no unemployment. Think of how many attendants they need to keep up with the constantly changing gas prices. One or two of them could not keep up with such a chore. Changing those prices, sometimes five or six times a day, takes a small army, to say the least.

Instead of grumbling every time they change prices, look at the bright side: Our patriotic service stations are employing about half our workforce. God bless them.

Harvey Meyer • Green Park