LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Obama lacks urgency on creating jobs

8/23/2011

Your Aug. 13 editorial "Par for the course" painted House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio as a hypocrite. How about an editorial about our President and his lack of urgency toward our continued economic slide?

President Obama says he will have his jobs plan when he gets back from the vacation he and his family are taking on Martha's Vineyard. Why does his vacation take priority? A jobs plan is two years too late.

Luis Villaflor
Monclova Township

Give firms a break on repatriated funds

One of the easiest ways President Obama can alleviate our country's economic ills is to give a tax holiday to American corporations for repatriated funds that are stashed in foreign lands.

The effect will be immediate, for this investment will create jobs, lower the deficit, and give a much needed boost to the economy. It might even restore the nation's coveted AAA credit rating.

Satish Sood
Ottawa Hills

Tax abatement, jobs linked

The Toledo Board of Education passed a tax abatement for Chrysler Group LLC, which may bring 1,100 jobs to Toledo ("Board OKs 15-year tax abatement for Chrysler," Aug. 17).

A tax abatement is a reduction in taxes. Does this mean that cutting taxes can create jobs?

David Stratso
Perrysburg

Firms are people? Let's see papers

If, as GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said, corporations are people, I want to see a birth certificate ("GOP rivals battle in Iowa debate," Aug. 12).

And for those that are not domestic corporations, immigration or naturalization papers should be made available.

If those documents can't be produced, the government should seize those corporations' assets and deport them.

Bill Pieper
Oregon

Obama to blame for economic mess

President Obama has persistently blamed former President George W. Bush for all that ails our country. But Mr. Obama's policies, not those of his predecessor, have led to the sorry state of the economy.

He has created runaway spending and skyrocketing deficits with no end in sight. He cannot hide from his record.

Continuing down this road will ensure that a once-proud United States will wind up like several European countries, whose socialist governments have spent them into oblivion.

It is not too late to restore sanity. Americans need to keep pressure on the President and Congress to cut spending. In 2012, we need to elect enough fiscally conservative candidates to bring spending under control and make sure President Obama is limited to one term.

Richard Ketteman
Sylvania

Don't put health care at risk

Supporters of the Affordable Care Act argue that the elimination of the individual mandate for health insurance would also eliminate coverage for pre-existing conditions. If everyone is not in the insurance pool, insurance companies will not cover everyone.

None of us knows our future health-care needs. We definitely should not want rejection of insurance coverage.

Ohioans will be voting Nov. 8 whether to accept the act. Why would we risk our health care?

Barton Dugan
Burningtree Court

GOP, Tea Party should be arrested

GOP and Tea Party members should be arrested for holding Congress hostage by taking so long to raise the debt ceiling.

They held on until the 11th hour just so they could blame our President. They are terrorists.

Patsy Rios
Woodstock Avenue

Maybe President should be quiet

Whenever our media-coddled President gives a speech, the nation gets a little poorer.

A prolonged case of laryngitis might be just what we need.

Edwin Durivage
River Road

Oh, Congress, help save Africa

A note to Congress: Stop spending trillions of dollars fighting a war no one will win. Start allocating resources to the millions of people in East Africa who are faced with a choice of which of their children to let die because of a lack of water ("Famine imposes devastating choices; Parents flee, must leave weak children," Aug. 12).

Molly Rump
Perrysburg

Let's drop GOP, Democratic parties

The Democratic and Republican parties should be abolished. Their constant fighting, at our expense, has caused so much turmoil that neither party can claim it is working for the public.

Do we actually need all these representatives in Congress? I think not.

We need to select individuals who deserve our votes based on their merits, and not because of their party affiliation. Too many voters select an all-Democratic or all-Republican ticket without knowing the candidates' qualifications.

I don't know how to get these two parties disbanded, but for the future of our children, something needs to be done.

Ernest Frye
Temperance

School beverages lower in calories

Blade food editor Daniel Neman's Aug. 16 column, "School cafeterias breeding grounds for obesity," failed to recognize the significant changes that have been made to the school beverage landscape throughout Ohio and across America.

Last year, our industry announced it had successfully implemented national school beverage guidelines. We removed full-calorie soft drinks from all schools and replaced them with lower-calorie, smaller-portion beverage options. There has been an 88 percent reduction in beverage calories in schools since 2004.

These guidelines strike the right balance, are supported by parents, and are in place and working. Ohio's Healthy Choices for Healthy Children law, enacted last year, mirrors our industry's guidelines.

Obesity is a serious and complex problem, but it will be addressed only through comprehensive approaches. Our industry has stepped up to be part of the solution.

Kimberly McConville
Executive Director
Ohio Soft Drink Association
Columbus

Renew national gasoline tax

The national gasoline tax of 18.4 cents a gallon is to expire Sept. 30. Failure to renew it would be a ludicrous, self-inflicted blow to our fragile economy.

Just look at road construction projects in our area to see the impact of past gas taxes. Where would hundreds of area families be without these past and current construction jobs? If government does one thing right, it's big infrastructure jobs that the private sector can't do alone.

I can already hear the anti-tax lobby revving its engines for this fight. But it is the wrong fight at the wrong time. This is one tax that needs to stay.

Jamie Black
Co-owner and Secretary
Waterville Gas & Oil Co.
Waterville

Unpictured wall a beauty

It's a shame that your Aug. 13 article "Area man refused to be stonewalled," about the wall that Gerry Randolph built, didn't include pictures of the wall. I have seen the wall. It is beautiful. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Noreen Greathouse
Burlingame Street