Dear Editor, In response to a recent letter to the editor from
Lisa Pampuch: I did stick with the facts. The Opinion Page column
endorsed the proposed casino near Gilroy. My letter to the editor
opposed her position. Her resulting screed said:
“Stick to the facts.” Following are the facts which led to my
opposition to the casino.
Dear Editor,
In response to a recent letter to the editor from Lisa Pampuch:
I did stick with the facts.
The Opinion Page column endorsed the proposed casino near Gilroy. My letter to the editor opposed her position. Her resulting screed said: “Stick to the facts.” Following are the facts which led to my opposition to the casino.
n If you go on the internet and search for “Gambling Crime Increase” you will find 152,000 sites which address those related topics. An overwhelming majority of these contain research that concludes there are linkages between gambling and increases in crime. Of the few studies that espouse the columnist’s view, many were conducted by gambling clubs, gambling magazines or the University of Nevada.
Also, her column asked: “How can San Benito County turn down 1,500 union jobs” that the casino will bring? Her comment is noteworthy only because she implied that non-union jobs have less worth.
n Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that 337,000 new jobs were created in October nationwide. There was no reference to union or non-union jobs. Starting in 1983, they have compiled annual data on union membership. In 2002, the latest year the data was compiled, 13.4 percent of our labor force was unionized. (Down from 20.1 percent in 1983).
The shot at my grammar is typical of elitists who are unprepared to defend their positions. Avoid the topic and denigrate the person who disagrees. Incidentally, if I quoted some other liberal writer at The Times in my last letter, I apologize, but they all read from the same list of “Talking points.”
n We readers know that an opinion column is not required to be factual.
Don Luke, Morgan Hill
