LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Columnist makes sense on economy
8/11/2011Charles Krauthammer's Aug. 7 op-ed column, "Tax reform and revenue neutrality could lead to a grand bargain," proposes a reasonable approach to solving the worsening national debt problem: removing tax loopholes and lowering tax rates.
A congressional super-committee is being appointed to come up with ideas to solve the problem. Currently serving politicians assigned to that committee will not have the initiative or incentive to do what is needed and right for the country, but will do whatever is self-serving for them and their party.
Well thought out solutions by Mr. Krauthammer, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (commonly called the Simpson-Bowles commission), and some astute economists must be on the right path. Their ideas seem to anger everyone from the individual citizen to the corporate executive to the politician in Washington.
If all of these people are so opposed to these ideas, the proposals must have merit. Everyone wants to protect his piece of the pie in case that piece might get smaller or disappear.
Pete Straube
Barrington Drive
S&P staff should be investigated
I can't believe the reporting of doom and gloom over the falling of the Dow Jones Industrial Average because of Standard & Poor's downgrading of the country's credit rating ("U.S. credit rating drops a notch for 1st time ever," Aug. 6). You would think it's the end of the world.
What really should be investigated is whether S&P moved money around prior to the downgrading. It knew what would happen to the Dow.
Rich Pilatowski
Petersburg, Mich.
Kaptur a part of economic woes
It comes as no surprise that U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur blames big banks for the downgrade of America's credit rating.
The Toledo Democrat said the answer to the nation's economic problem is to restore competitive credit by breaking up "the oligopoly of banking power that rests on Wall Street."
How about stopping the out-of-control spending that has taken place for decades in Washington, which Miss Kaptur has been a part of? It's all about Washington spending more than it takes in.
Our government is broken and needs to be fixed. Term limits would be a good starting point.
Brad Bottles
Sylvania Township
S&P criticized for downgrade delay
Why did Standard & Poor's lower the credit rating when it did? Deficit spending has been going on for decades.
S&P was asleep at the wheel, helping to ensure the status quo for a select group of people.
A forthright decision by S&P would have been to downgrade the rating prior to the congressional vote on raising the debt ceiling, allowing lawmakers to have all the facts about the consequences of whatever action they took.
S&P is less than honorable for failing to act in a timely manner. I am sure no laws have been broken, but a higher principle of honesty needs to be adhered to.
James Austermiller
Perrysburg Township
Tea Party is not the bogeyman
Maureen Dowd's Aug. 5 op-ed column, "D.C. horror film: 'Invasion of the Alien Tea Party,'" is indicative of the fear liberals have of the Tea Party movement.
Liberals believe that when they are incapable of debating the message, ridicule the messenger. The liberal tax-and-spend crowd delights in portraying the Tea Party movement as Draconian reactionaries out to destroy all that is good about the federal government.
In reality, the Tea Party is a loosely organized conglomeration of disgruntled taxpayers who are fed up with a bloated bureaucracy and unbridled spending in Washington.
Many Tea Party followers believe that as long as we have elected officials who see officeholding as a career rather than temporary public service, getting re- elected will trump doing what is best for the general good.
The success of the Tea Party in portraying the federal government as bloated, ineffective, and dominated by career politicians and their special-interest allies drives the political establishment's efforts to paint the Tea Party as the bogeyman.
John Stewart
Monclova Township
Tea Party smacks of a dictatorship
Rule or control of a country or people by a small group is a dictatorship. Does this ring a bell about the so-called Tea Party?
People need to read history about what happens when a far-right group gains control.
Maybe those of us in the middle of the political spectrum need to make ourselves heard long and loud, before it is too late.
It is, sadly, too bad our Constitutional Framers did not include a plebiscite alternative to our political party system.
Edward Bachmeyer
Perrysburg
Thanks for nothing, Tea Partiers
Thanks to Tea Party lawmakers' work in the past 30 days, their insistence on no new taxes, and their complete lack of understanding of the potential impact of their debt-ceiling actions on the lives of ordinary Americans, they have managed to screw up the economy.
As for "work," they and their fellow lawmakers are now off for a month while the rest of us have no money for a vacation. As for "no new taxes," they have just raised my taxes in a sense by decimating my individual retirement account and 401(k) plan, leaving me with less money to pay my day-to-day expenses. And the economy is on the brink of another great recession.
Thanks for nothing.
Gudrun Carr
Deepwood Lane
Lawmakers need to work together
After the last few weeks of debate in Washington, I have come to believe that this is the most dysfunctional government I have seen in my voting life.
What has happened to the premise that the two parties (three, if the Tea Party is considered) were elected to work for the people, not against them? Our esteem in the world has been lowered by what our lawmakers have done.
The downgrade by Standard & Poor's, which is primarily the result of the governmental debacle over the debt ceiling, is correct. Maybe lawmakers will get the message that the public wants and needs them to stand side by side for the good of the United States, not just for their own party.
If lawmakers can't do this, then shame on them. They need to find another job.
Janet Francis
Monclova Township
On several levels, he's sick of politics
As an American, a Vietnam veteran, and a retiree on a fixed income, I am sickened by the political games played in Washington.
The Tea Party is out to destroy our country. The Republicans only care for the rich, big banks, and big business. The Democrats don't have the guts to stand up to the other parties.
Politicians only care about their salaries and their interests. They don't care about the middle class anymore.
For all of these reasons, I am giving up. I can no longer vote for any of them. I no longer count.
James Markin
Sylvania Township
Nation should re-embrace God
It seems we have removed all thought of God from the nation's consciousness. The only time we turn to Him is when we are faced with some great calamity or situation we feel we can't handle. When that has passed, it is back to business as usual.
With so much evil in the world, and evil does come only from the heart, why have we chosen to jettison the One who has the power, grace, and love to transform hearts?
Our nation needs to get back on course.
Roger Ramsey
Atwood Road