Dear Editor:We certainly agree with Mrs. Van Leuven and Mr. Niemand regarding the waste of taxpayers' money (Letters to the Editor, 2/27/09). Mr. Niemand, in reference to the pay raise for 98 city employees, rightly states that "4 percent is a modest increase in normal times, but these are not normal times." We agree with his statement that "if the city treasury is so flush with cash, let them take that 4 percent and use it to hire a half-dozen or more employees to fix our streets." The streets in our city and especially Lakewood Boulevard are horrible. The City Council should retract that agreement with the union. We agree with Mrs. Van Leuven in regard to spending that enough is enough. It seems that President Obama's "plan" is for big spending programs. When will the American people wake up and see that our country is going down the drain and that we don't have an unlimited money supply? Folks, please write or call your state senators and representatives. I want to commend Mrs. Van Leuven and Mr. Niemand for writing to let Downey citizens know just what is going on in our city and in Washington, D.C. - Buford and Betty Logan, Downey Dear Editor: I read with interest the writings of Mrs. Van Lueven in the Letters to the Editor. All I hear is the voice of Rush Limbaugh, the new head of the Republican Party. It is important to remember that President Obama has been in office for less than two months and can't possibly repair the damage that took eight years by the previous administration. It was their reckless spending that got us where we are today. Instead of rejoicing over the difficulty the new administration is having, let's pray for their success. If they succeed, we succeed. If they fail, then we fail. - Lois Rossi, Downey ********** Published: March 13, 2009 - Volume 7 - Issue 47