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Please tax us; just don't cut
There is virtually no instance in which these folks recommend cutting their benefits, pooling secretarial services, reducing use of planes, trains and automobiles. No mention of cutting back taxpayer paid conventions and junkets, no cuts in their energy costs and above all, no cuts in politically generated waste.
Nearly every handout from the federal and state government now contains a percentage they know will be stolen. Check Hurricane Katrina relief. Check the TARP funds. The stimulus package(s) can't be audited, so no one knows how much is spent, how much is stolen and how much is handed out to political patrons.
The scam is: "Don't take my policeman off the beat. Don't close my school or cut my kid's music program. Please tax me more, I'm willing to pay."
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P.S. Keep Virginia Lyons of Parkersburg, W.Va. and her truth-detecting divining rods the heck away from Harrisburg and Washington, D.C.
Daniel Morris
Waynesburg
Don't whack kitty
I am appalled that our newspaper would even consider printing the atrocious article about the Whack-A-Kitty game. The makers say they are big animal lovers! Why don't people think about the repercussion of such an idiotic idea? They should be ashamed.
Linda Tustin
Washington
Students represent area well
The last week of May, I had the privilage of attending the Odyssey of the Mind World Championships at Iowa State University. While prepairing teams from my school district, I noticed that there would be a team from Trinity High School representing Washington and the state of Pennsylvania.
As a former resident of Washington, which was my parents' home town, I tried to locate this team. After three days of trying, I was ready to give up on finding them. After all, there were only about 9,000 students from 12 countries there. However, as I was on my way to watch one of the competitions, I was speaking to a lady about fundraising projects and school support, and she intoduced herself as the Trinity coach. We immediatly began talking about some of my relatives who lived in the area, and who had attended Trinity. I even told her about my late uncle, Tony Macre, whose house overlooked Trinity High.
Later that day, I ran into her again with her team. We spoke again for a while, about Washington. The students were very polite and well spoken. They were also interested in my memories of Washington from "back in the day."
You should be very proud of your students. They represented your community as wonderful ladies and gentlemen. By the way, they finished third in their division in the World Finals.
Sam Macre
Blytheville, Ark.
GM takeover is a security issue
I know the O-R isn't owned by Rupert Murdoch, but it might as well be. Most of the political items printed in the O-R come right from his playbook especially the political cartoons. Most are drawn by artists who represent the 21 percent of the far right wing.
The latest on June 3 is an example. It faults the government for trying to save General Motors. I take exception to that cartoon not on a political basis but on a security one. If GM ceases to exist, who is going to build the tanks and military vehicles we will need in case we get into another war?
Richard F Legeza
Monongahela
Actually, : 6/7/2009
The M-1 Abrams tank is built by Chrysler. We've just sent our #1 battle tank's manufacturer into foreign control. Also, China will be building Hum Vees..........There's security for you, having foreign companies make our troops main vehicular resources.
Richard : 6/8/2009
Don't worry, war is a thing of the past ! The Chosen one, barack Hussein Obama is now large and in charge. The Jews and Arabs will find peace, Muslims will no longer fly airplanes into our buildings, Gangs will disarm since they will see that they too can get an education and rise to the highest office in the world, North Korea, Iran, China, Pakistan et al will dismantle their nuclear weapons, and the far left and right will come together under a bold new mix of Fascism, socialism, and croney capitalism. No one will want for housing, an eco friendly car, or healthcare. What a wonderful world the Chosen one is bringing us!
So... : 6/8/2009
You get pissed about the bailouts to try to keep these companies viable... but then you also get pissed when they sell off under performing divisions on the open market? What exactly IS the "correct" course of action? Also... is china REALLY going to make Hum-Vees? Or are they just going to own the Hummer passenger SUV company?
Joe : 6/8/2009
the "chosen one" works for the same people as the "shrub". he may wrap it in grassroots compassion. but, the policy is rounding out to be the same... the privileged who run our government may have traded coats of arms for corporate logos but it is feudalism all the same. you can rail and hate the politician. that's what they're for... lackey's doing the dirty work for a seat at the kids table when the real power is brokered. find the major corporate players. find out who sits on the board. then find out where their power is based. bam... that's who runs the show. lockheed martin? citi group? consol energy? comcast? i challenge anybody to witness the news out of washington and say it's the result of an honestly elected and enacted representative republic. it is oligarchy. campaign finance reform would help. but, it better happen soon. we're all becoming serfs quickly!
This is hardly the : 6/9/2009
open market. It's the new United Fascist States of Obama at work. Then, all the assets and of course, eventual manufacturing are going overseas. The correct way to have prevented all of this would have been A) Reduce/eliminate corporate taxes. Corporations cannot vote, so they are taxed without representation anyway. B) Drop CAFE standards, just an unnecessary government edict that causes a burden to the car companies. By the way, you NEVER see the donkey's asses that want these driving cars that meet them, do you? c) If the company would still fail, there is the bankrupsy system, NOT this 'Thank You for electing me, here's a car company for you' crap that Barack The carmaker Hussein Obama is pulling. Secured bondholders were placed at the back of the line, when by law, they should have been at the front. D) We need to get our heads straight. We manufacture NOTHING in this country anymore. If we would ever get into another 'classic' world war, we're screwed. We need to make manufacturing profitable here again before it's too late. We need to forget cap and trade, it's the death knell for what little manufacturing is left, we neet to treat investment capital better, and we need to quit demonizing the producers in this country, and start thanking them for keeping us going. I'm tired of more and more of my tax dollars going to those that make poor life decisions and being punished via a marxist tax code for my success !
So... : 6/10/2009
Toyota and Honda and Volkswagon and BMW and Mercedes and Hyundai and Ford and Nissan... they don't have to meet cafe standards? They don't pay corporate taxes? There is a reason that corporations are not "represented"--- because they are not people... they are assemblages of people... and THOSE people ARE represented. I'm sorry, but your proposals would not have made more people buy Pontiac Aztecs... GM's death warrant was signed in the late nineties and early 2000's... Chrysler's was signed about the same time the first K-car rolled out of the plant.
Joe Furjanic : 6/10/2009
And everything was been just peachy under Republican control. Time will tell whether President Obama was successful. I can tell you this the Obama administration is 1,000X better then the Bush administration.
Joe : 6/10/2009
Musolini, a real icon of facism is quoted as prefering the term "corporatism." The merging of the power of the state and the corporations. That is exactly what's going on in America. All your suggestions feed right into the facists / corporatists hands. We see the same problems. Again, we disagree vastly on the solutions. A perging of the robber baron progeny would do wonders for economic justice in America. Handing the keys to the country over the the corporations isn't producing a very civil society. They're pittiing you against me and us against third world labor. Where there are no laws. no protections. and no future
Obama and the budget : 6/13/2009
Quit your complaining. All you damyankee Hilary and Barack luvin' liberal forward progressive democrat types voted for them so now you have to pay the consequences. Not to mention the exhorbant costs when your hero wants to takes his wife out for a date. You're paying for the plane, the security detail, the inconvenience Joe citizen has to endure sitting in traffic so your boy's motorcade can drive uninterrupted. So pay your taxes like a good citizen so he can give your money away and quit your bellyaching. Oh, you lost your job thanks to him? Then go get some of that free money he's giving away if there's any left.
Joe, : 6/13/2009
why don't you give Obama a chance? He's only been in office 5 months...
In five months, : 6/15/2009
I've heard anough apologizing for and about America to the rest of the world. In five months, we've TRIPLED Bush's deficit spending. In five months, I've seen 15 'czars' appointed, accountable only to the president to make policies, bypassing congress, In five months, I've seen the Federal government take over the banking, and automotive industries, and the government try to take over setting compensation of executives. In five months, I've seen political appointees in the Justice Department overrule career lawyers and drop an airtight case of voter intimidation against the New Black Panther Party for no good reason. I've seen legislation railroaded through before it was humanly possible to read it. NO, I've seen quite anough already. This President is Hugo Chavez with big ears and better suits the way he is usurping power. Iran can have nuclear power, but we can't? Come on, in what real world does that make one bit of sense? Next he wants to take over health care? No thank you! This new United Fascist States of Obama scares the Hell out of me. Wait til the new tax hikes come along too, on soda, gasoline, carbon emissions, your employer provided health care benefits, on your company cell phone, on your 401k and anything else they can think of. All brought to you be the tax cheats Charlie Rangle and Timmy Geithner.
ALso : 6/16/2009
we were promised 5 days to read bills online between congressional passage and signing by the President. We were promised no lobbyists in the administration, and we got 15 waviers to that policy then the policy was dropped. We have the President now blocking public access to White House visitor lists. We have Senator Dick Durbin cashing out of the stock market immediately after a private meeting with then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Let's also not forget criticism of the Big Three automakers for taking private jets to testify before congress, yet the President and First Lady can that a fleet of three Gulfstream jets to New York for a night on the town at taxpayer cost. Then there's congress: Nancy Pelosi promised a report by March about Charlie Rangle's tax issues, accused the CIA of lying, ran off to China when the crap hit the fan about her CIA accusations. Plus overall, North Korea is now threatening to use nuclear weapons, and CHina is warning us to not be too strong in how we proceed with N. Korea (still waiting for the President's promised consequences). No, he doesn't need any more chances to enact his flawed policies, comrades.
Joe : 6/16/2009
they're not Obama's policies anymore than W's policies were his own. i sense a new level of frustration in your posts... let it go. until we have complete public financing of all state and national elections, the politicians will continue to work for those who enable them... corporations and the privileged. you and i, i.e. working people do not matter. our differences in politics, philosophy, and what it is to be a humane civil and thriving society. none of it matters. this is America. you're as free as you can afford to be. the struggle in washington today is as primitive and petty as in the Roman days... money and power... without uncorrupted independant oversight, human nature will force us to relive the fate of many societies that came before us.
Joe, : 6/16/2009
I guess I’m more patient then you; I gave Bush the respect his office automatically deserves for over 24 months, right up until it was obvious he was going to attack Iraq, at which time I screamed “What about the bas****s that attacked us on 9/11??!!!” Yes, I admit I lost respect for Bush when he started an unnecessary war with the wrong country (and 4,313 US soldiers dead to date for no reason). But I guess you have bigger fish to fry, Joe, what with Charlie Rangle's tax issues, Pelosi’s accusations and Obama taking a night off work.
Joe, : 6/16/2009
The Nazis used the term "comrades" too. You should drop it, unless you want to risk giving the wrong impression to people.
Silky : 6/19/2009
Obama promised to 'remake' our country. I personally would rather it be restored to the framework called the Constitution. Obama's appoint,ent of 'czars' is in no way justified in the Constitution, and is a way to bypass Congress, the voice of the people. It's pretty bad when Hugo Chavez is warning the Castro brothers that they are to the right of a sitting US President!
Joe : 6/19/2009
Ronald Regan established the first "Drug Czar" in 1982... and the title was FIRST used to describe Bill Simon's heading up of the Federal Energy Administration in 1973... under Nixon.
obama : 6/19/2009
is fowarding the agenda of his benefactors. just like bush. there will be no real finance, healthcare, or any major reform or overhauling that will challenge the monied status quo. our only hope is for voters to push relentlessly for public campaign financing and term limits. as long as the politicians have to sell their souls to get elected, the special interests financing them own the process.
Ted, : 6/24/2009
I truly believe in my heart of hearts that the mixture of fascism, socialism, and croney capitalism is what Obama truly believes. From his earliest upbringing, he has been surrounded by those that HATE the United States, and love socialism/communism. Add to this, the far left leadership in the House and Senate and you have the seeds for the end of the USA as we know it.
Ted, : 6/24/2009
your statement is illogical. If Obama is really committed to his benefactors, "just like Bush," then no amount of ordinary voters protesting will have the slightest impact on him.
Eugenie : 6/25/2009
no amount of voter protest will secure REAL Wall St. finance reform with teeth. Ordinary voter protests won't close the loopholes or make our tax code any fairer for the wage earner. the only thing i ever said about protesting was, you better be prepared to do more than stand there with a sign to take the country back from the corporatists. that was in a different thread... look at how the legislation on finance is being watered down to meaningless by special interests as we type. watch as the insurance lobby's try to kill real health reform. protest all you want. you'll be behind a fence a mile from the particular venue surrounded by security... touch a nerve and they'll send in the agitators to foment violence and make you all out as looney in the media. so much for peaceful civil disobedience in America.
Joe : 6/25/2009
I truly am believing that Obama is another establishment plant by the powers of the status quo. just like Bush. and, a genius of a plant. just when the GOP and the rich white kid were all out of credibility, they present a black guy!! that'll throw the dogs off the scent. so far, Obama hasn't done anything Bush didn't start or would've had to do pretty much the same. wall st would've been just as coddled or more so. NO politician would've just let Detroit fail. this was all done at the behest of the banksters and coporate types. those at cerberus, should not have seen a dime of public money for their bad investment in chrysler. but, you can garantee Bush woud've made it just as easy on old buddy Danny Quayle. isn't it just amazing how you can follow the names and money from washington to wall st. to the hedge and private equity funds... they write the laws to make it all legal. then act with fake indignation when taken to task!! nope we've been hornswaggered by the same folks that brought you the Iraq war. the only difference, this time it's not an oratorically challenged C average legacy pledge. they went out and found an articulate and intelligent face. i agree about one thing... that's much more dangerous than the last guy.
Joe : 6/26/2009
in a change of subject. we often debate the benefits and innovation in free market countries vs the one's you say are socialized. i say they're just governing humanely and responsibly. anyway. our friends in norway are ramping up the biggest off shore wind energy project in the world. the 6th largest oil exporter is moving to clean energy. they've made a goal of a 30% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. hmm, food, shelter, healthcare, and innovation. along with responsible environmental stewardship... maybe we can send a few congressional commitee leaders for a visit. as long as they leave they're lobbyists friends at home. a bit of good US corporate news today though. Jeff Immelt from GE made a speach in Detroit where he said that US based corporations have hurt the country, economy, and society by too much outsourcing. WOW!! they're starting an initiative to insource manufacturing beginning with the aerospace divisions. they want to lower their reliance on the financial division for obvious reasons. anyway on a national perspective, he goes on to say the country needs to double it's manufacturing base if we're to maintain the worlds largest economy and our middle classes quality of life!!! music to a working guys ears... now, let's see where it goes.
