Vote them out

Dear Editor:I love to read letters to the editor that are full of Democratic Party talking points. It seems that we have all the facts we need in order to make our voting decisions. However, one important fact was left out. Presidents don't spend money. Congressmen and senators spend money. Bill Clinton had a Republican senate and Congress for a good part of his two terms. Bush had a senate and Congress made up of tax-and-spend Democrats for six years of his two terms. Bush was too lazy to veto even one spending bill in his last four years. President Obama and his party, along with the spineless Republicans, are responsible for the condition that we are in today. Let them know that we are unhappy. Vote them all out. -- Kenneth Stallcup, Downey

Dear Editor: This is in response to the letter to the editor on Oct. 21 entitled "How We Arrived Here." I never cease to be amazed at the depth of ignorance people are willing to reveal in writing. This letter expresses much of the misinformation and half-truths that is typical of the Kool-Aid drinking "Blame it on Bush" crowd. I hardly know where to begin since much of what the author puts on the Bush administration was beyond the power of the executive branch of government. The purse strings are held by the legislative branch of government which was controlled by the Democrats during Bush's two terms (which included President Obama). Did that not get covered in Civics 101? Or was it conveniently forgotten? Oh, and about the Clinton surplus. Yeah, Clinton produced a surplus by gutting the defense and intelligence budget that Congress and the Senate had approved. Which in no small measure contributed to us being blindsided by 9/11. Did that not get covered in Current Events 101, or was that class given by a Kool-Aid drinker? Then there's Carly Fiorina's 30,000 jobs sent overseas. How many U.S. jobs did she save by doing what was necessary to save Hewlett Packard, a company that was sinking fast when she took over? I think a cursory research will reveal the figure is several times the 30,000 lower-paying assembly jobs she allegedly "deported" to Asia. Fiorina and Meg Whitman as CEOs, had fiduciary and legal responsibilities to act in the best interest of the shareholders of their respective corporations. They both were given pay raises by grateful boards of directors. Corporate officers cannot give themselves pay raises. That's what boards of directors do. It's called capitalism, an idea that has outlived socialism and communism. Yet the concept still eludes many liberals even as they enjoy an unprecedented standard of living provided them by a free market economy. Did that not get covered in Corporate Law 101? It's easy to blame all our problems on those currently in office, but the current administration finds it still easier to blame the problems on the previous administration. Most people I've talked with recently are pretty much done with the Blame Bush Game. It just doesn't play out factually. Obama needs a scapegoat. It would help if Obama could stabilize his administration and get beyond the Chicago-style revolving door stage. We don't need Obama or his apologists to tell us how we arrived here; it's irrelevant. We need Obama to tell us how he plans to get us back on the road to recovery. That's the difference between a real statesman and another hack politician. -- Tom Burney, Downey

********** Published: October 28, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 28