Letter | Rep. Rice needs to rethink congressional priorities

Rep. Tom Rice might want to read the State of The Union again

On Jan. 25, the Sun News printed Rep. Rice’s second “I hate Obama” letter that I know of. The first, printed last year told us how the President wanted to be a “king.” It is a popular thing for politicians to do in South Carolina.

Our representative, in his conclusion, states that the President did not give us “a vision that creates more opportunities for everyone — more jobs, better wages…affordable health care and access to education.” It hurt when I fell out of the chair.

In the middle of Rep. Rice’s letter he criticizes the President for suggesting a “taxpayer funded college tuition scheme.” You mean one that might provide middle and lower economic class high school graduates a chance to conntinue their education without massive student loans? A chance to give fast-food places or Wal-Mart their two-week notice. Isn’t that “access to education?” Doesn’t that “create more opportunities for everyone?” How about “more jobs and better wages?” Perhaps there aren’t enough unemployed high school graduates in Mr. Rice’s 7th District.

If you are “ready to work together,” your chamber might consider creating an actual bill instead of a meaningless lawsuit regarding the immigration problem. Yes, the House can create and vote on bills. You might have to add another day to your two-day workweek. If you want to deport all the illegal immigrants in this country, start by calculating how much it would cost. It might be somewhere around $140 billion, and that buys a lot of community college.

Rep. Rice also criticized Obama for wanting to close “our nation’s high security prison for terrorists.” Are you referring to Guantanamo? Keeping it open might not be a good idea, because each prisoner in that facility costs this country $2.7 million each year. And there might be an interesting reason why we won’t ever bring one to this country for public trial. Many have been cleared for release but continue to be held due to “relocation” issues, so we pay the bill. This facility is an embarrassment to the values of this nation.

This story was originally published May 17, 2015 at 9:49 AM with the headline "Letter | Rep. Rice needs to rethink congressional priorities."