Letters: Jan. 16, 2006

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TIME's assessment of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford skipped over the facts. You were critical of his frugality and his efforts to improve the economy without noting what he has actually done, which is to make the ground fertile for South Carolina's businesses to grow and prosper. He cut the marginal income-tax rate for the first time in South Carolina's history, which will return more than $130 million to our state's small businesses over the next four years. Sanford undertook our state's first comprehensive legal reform and retooled the commerce department. Although he inherited a government $750 million in the hole, that debt is now nearly extinguished. Those kinds of actions are the building blocks of a better economy and actions that, as a taxpayer, I love. MICHAEL FIELDS, FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA STATE DIRECTOR NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS Columbia, S.C.

Checking Out Bush's Numbers

The essay by Patricia Marx, "Check out My New Numbers," with totally made-up statistics about President Bush [Dec.19], was a real dud. I have no problem with puzzling over the strange mind of W. or with Time's taking up a full page to develop a keen, witty perspective on some topical issue, but Marx's piece was, at best, filler. It seemed like one of those papers I wrote on the school bus on the way to class despite having had two weeks to get it done. TOM WRIGHT Burke, Va.

Battle of the Binge

I love the English. It's sad that you did not probe more deeply into why the English binge drink more than the French and the Italians [Dec. 19]. It may be a combination of circumstances: the dismally damp weather of Britain, the lackluster cuisine and the Brits' Victorian heritage. ANGELO FORLENZA San Jose, Calif.

You noted that the British Government has extended the hours that pubs and bars can stay open. Pubs are places in which people have lunch and get together for afternoon business meetings and evening socializing. It has been asinine for the pubs of London to shut early. The change in the drinking laws allowing longer hours is a necessary step toward shifting the burden of responsibility from the state to the community. DANNY MERMEL London

The Delights of Narnia

Richard Corliss's review of the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [Dec. 19] stated that director Andrew Adamson should "stick to animation." Here is a test. Does Narnia make the spirit soar? Does Narnia cause the imagination to fly? Does Narnia make you think, make you wonder, make you aspire? If it does even half these things, not only will encouragement rule the land but also, on the commercial side, the season will ring with the sound of ka-ching! STEVE HORTEGAS Lynden, Wash.

Having read and reread the Chronicles of Narnia to my children many times over the past 20 years, I was curious about how I would respond to a film version. I was delighted. The four child actors did a splendid job. Corliss should lighten up, take a break from postmodern deconstructionism and take a trip through the magic wardrobe! Despite what Corliss thinks, there is indeed fire, passion and a lot of fun in the film. KEN FAST Derwent, Alta.