The article cites a poll finding that 18 percent of Americans believe he is indeed a Muslim. It then quotes a doctor who says it is the responsibility of traditional media to refute or prove a claim. However, with its headline this newspaper abdicates that responsibility by implying that Obama's faith is open to question, no matter how many people may believe otherwise. To be consistent with the principle of responsibility, the headline could and probably should read "Is 18 percent of America nuts?"

Obama is not a Muslim and never has been. (To me, he demonstrates his faith in ways other Christians might well aspire to.) Now, let's do as the locals say and move on to pressing issues.

Some within the media are analyzing how a matter so clearly contrary to fact has a following of one-fifth of Americans. One factor is headline editorializing that suggests it is still open to debate. This paper should not be contributing to a misinformed citizenry.

What's the White House response? "Things could be worse," "we inherited these problems."

At what point does Obama take responsibility for the mess he has gotten us into?

CAREY CROUCH

Obama is part of budget deficits

To those of you who keep blaming Bush and the Republicans for our fiscal problems -- here's a short civics lesson.

Budgets do not come from the White House. They come from Congress, and the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democratic Party. They controlled the budget process for fiscal year 2008 and FY 2009, as well as FY 2010 and FY 2011.

For FY 2009, though, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid bypassed George Bush entirely, passing continuing resolutions to keep government running until Barack Obama could take office. At that time, they passed a massive omnibus spending bill to complete the FY 2009 budgets.

And where was Barack Obama during this time? He was a member of that very Congress that passed all of these massive spending bills, and he signed the omnibus bill as president to complete FY 2009. Let's remember what the deficits looked like during that period.

What Obama is saying is I inherited a deficit that I voted for and then I voted to expand that deficit four-fold since Jan. 20.

Wake up, America, before it's too late.

ED DEBOER Signal Mountain

EPB needs to see the real world

Way to go, Electric Power Board, you've done it again. You have seniors, low income and people out of work trying to decide if the should buy their medication, feed their families or turn off their electricity.

I can see the grin on your faces when you pick up your big checks.

I'm sure most of you at the top will never have to face these problems at your retirement. Get out in the real world and see what it looks like out here.

KELVIN FLEMINGS Soddy-Daisy

City residents have had enough

Your Aug. 10 editorial, "A recall rift to avoid," opined that the 33 percent tax increase originally proposed by Mayor Littlefield was "modest." Many would take issue with your assertion, given the fact that Chattanooga area incomes dropped by the largest amount in over four decades.

The people of Chattanooga do not exist primarily to pay the taxes that the city of Chattanooga deems necessary to fund government programs during the worst recession in our lifetimes and more than 10 percent unemployment.

Over 9,000 Chattanoogans -- more than 50 percent of all the votes cast for Mayor Littlefield -- have decided to exercise their right to recall the most politically tin-eared mayor in the last 40 years. These citizens ask for a legally valid recall followed by a replacement mayor whose policies are fiscally conservative and reflect the reality of the tough economic times we all face. Accomplishing this recall will be hard and will take one step at a time and hundreds of volunteer hours, but as it is clear the people have had enough. What is the alternative?

The logical pursuit of good government requires accountability. If the people don't hold the government accountable, who will?

BRENDAN JENNINGS Harrison

Replace bike bells with loud horns

Regarding pedestrians and cyclists sharing the Greenway.

A letter writer suggested that pedestrians could hear the bells of the bicycles if their ears were not obstructed with electronic music.

Well, my ears are not obstructed by electronic music because I wear hearing aids. I have a profound hearing loss, and even with wearing my hearings aids I cannot possibly hear the bells of cyclists who are approaching from behind me.

I try to walk to the edge of the grass and if need be "leap" out of he way the cyclists zoom by. Cyclists should not assume everyone can hear their bells because they are very difficult to hear. I don't understand why the bicycle industry doesn't provide loud horns for bikes which would be easier to hear than the high pitch sound of tinny sounding bells.

MARY COLEMAN

Where are jobs from tax cuts?

The Bush tax cuts are set to expire on Dec. 31. These tax cuts, along with the Iraq War, have exploded our national debt. The Obama administration and the Democrats plan to let these tax cuts expire only for those making more than $250,000 a year. These tax cuts will remain in place for those of us making less than $250,000.

Republicans continually argue that if we cut taxes on the wealthy, they will create jobs. They argued it 10 years ago, which resulted in the Bush tax cuts.

I have one question for them: Where are the jobs? We have we been steadily losing jobs over the past 10 years.

Even though they claim to be so worried about the national debt, Republicans will fight tooth and nail to save tax cuts for the very wealthy and won't lift a finger to keep teachers in the classroom or extend unemployment benefits. No matter what the battle, Republicans are always on the side of Goliath against the Davids and have somehow managed to convince people that what's good for Goliath is good for them.