your views [Virginian – Pilot]

LET NATURE CLEAN THE BEACHES

I ENJOYED "Gifts from Neptune" (The Daily Break, Sept. 21). Unfortunately, we in Willoughby and Ocean View do not get to beachcomb for such gifts, due to the massive beach-cleaning machines that rake up everything washed onto the beach.

It happened again last week: Big winds and high tides washed up tons of shells, seaweed, horseshoe crabs and other debris. The birds were going crazy. The gulls, pipers, plovers, ghost crabs and even some inland crows were all having at it. The next day, it was all gone, raked up by the beach-sweeping machines.

If the city of Norfolk wants to save money, how about ditching those machines? The beach debris is not waste. It is an important part of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

Sure, after a large storm, the area can smell "fishy" for a while. Locals should be patient: In a week, most of it is gone. The remainder is blown into the dunes, where it fertilizes the grass and disappears.

I have lived on this beach for 30 years, and we did just fine before the beach was cleaned. If people cannot tolerate the smell or the debris for a couple of weeks, I ask: Why did you buy a home near the beach?

Kathleen McKee

Norfolk

What he's paying for

Earlier this month, I drove to Paducah, Ky., and back. I took Interstate 264, U.S. 58 and interstates 85, 40 and 24. I went through or bypassed Durham, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Asheville, Knoxville and Nashville.

I began and ended my trip on the deteriorating 264. I did not experience another road in as poor condition as 264, and that includes roads that were being rebuilt.

But horror of horrors - gasoline was about 10 cents more expensive all along that route. What a high price those citizens pay for their well-maintained roads.

As for me, I have paid the $128 surcharge for owning my two Prii (the plural of "Prius"). So fix my 264 now!

Joseph Wilson

Virginia Beach

Let down by Rigell

I have called the office of U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell twice to express my displeasure with his vote against defunding Obamacare. He must feel very lonely as the only Republican in the House of Representatives refusing to take a stand and choosing instead to side with Democrats. But then again, this is not out of character.

I proudly displayed his sign in my yard, attended fundraisers and stood in the long line on Election Day to vote for him, only to have him slap me in the face, along with the rest of Virginia's Republicans, with this vote. In the next election cycle, I will work as diligently for his primary opponent, and if he should once again secure the Republican nomination, I will not vote for him.

Rigell has joined other RINOs such as John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Chris Christie.

Joseph P. Quinn

Virginia Beach

Sequester for Congress

While our inept congressional representatives seek to inflict further financial hardship on Americans by withholding our paychecks due to their refusal to pass a budget, their lifestyle remains untouched.

Congress continues to collect the salary, vacations and other perks they have not earned, as they haven't done their jobs in years.

We pay their salaries, and it's time for us to cut their money off. Vote the incumbents out, regardless of who their opponent might be. Declare a tax holiday and withhold their salaries. It's time to regain control of this country, or there will be nothing left.

America was created to escape oppression from England's ruling class. It's time to get rid of the politicians in Congress who think they are entitled to everything while giving the citizens nothing.

Linda Mackie

Norfolk

Not doing their jobs

Re "Paychecks of 800,000 could be in jeopardy" (Nation & World, Sept. 24): Those who caused us to be in this situation should be at the front of the line to miss their paychecks. That would be the members of Congress, who for years have not done what the Constitution requires of them.

It is their duty to present a budget each year. Instead, they bicker and point fingers at each other and avoid preparing a budget. I suggest that they all have their pay and their perks suspended until a viable budget is passed. The executive branch also should be included in this sequester until the matter is resolved.

Why should federal government workers bear the consequences of congressional inaction?

We need to return to the practice of citizens serving a term in Congress, doing what the Constitution requires, and then returning home to earn a living and pay taxes like the rest of us.

No more lifetime elected positions. No professional politicians.

Gerald E. Eavey

Portsmouth

Obamacare's wounds

Obamacare is starting to take effect. People who had full-time jobs are now being cut to part time. Wives or husbands who were on their spouse's health care plans are now being dropped. My insurance costs are going up, not down, and most people will learn the same thing about their plans this fall.

Major companies are dropping their health care coverage, and many more are to come. Remember when we were promised we could keep our insurance if we wanted to?

Our debt is out of control, the economy is a mess, there are no jobs, and most people don't want Obamacare. Where is the common sense?

Michael Bauer

Chesapeake