Time for the president to show some backbone
By
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Time for the president to show some backbone
To the editor:
We seem to have a president playing the part of the turtle in the story of a turtle giving a scorpion a ride across a river with Republicans playing the part of the scorpion. Like the scorpion, Republicans will lash out at the entity that is transporting them across treacherous waters, even if that means they will drown as a result, because it is their nature.
Once more we see the president who promised an end to partisan politics in Washington bowing to Republicans who are lock step in opposing anything he favors for purely political motives. In my opinion the time has come for him to recognize reality and stand up for the millions who are unemployed, the soldiers again spending the holidays away from their families in a country we have no business being in, for workers being asked to take pay cuts and loss of benefits to keep their jobs from being moved to China, for the millions whose homes are or have been foreclosed on while the people responsible for the latest economic collapse are given huge bonuses funded by taxpayers, for young people graduating from college with huge debts and no job prospects, for young people who are faced with the choice of joining the military and being deployed in a misguided war on terrorism or depending on charity and or the vast majority of Americans who have watched an angry ignorant mob, with no plan to restore America, seize control of the country.
The time has come for President Obama to stop attempting to appease the party that serves the interests of the richest Americans and to stand up for the rest of us. If that means becoming a one-term president, so be it. If nothing else, he should use the remainder of this term putting obstructions in place that the party of Wall Street will have to dismantle in order to continue their march toward turning the United States into a feudal society like the one that many of our ancestors left Europe to escape.
On extension of the Bush tax cuts he should be telling Republicans that they have three choices. Extend them only for average Americans, pay for the extension for the rich with cuts in other programs that he (President Obama) will accept or let the tax cuts for all expire as originally intended.
On jobs, he should demand that corporations use the trillions of dollars in cash they are setting on to create American jobs or face substantial fines. If businesses are unwilling or unable to create jobs for the millions of people unemployed as a result of deregulation and Madoff type greed he should demand that the government step in as the employer of last resort. In a capitalistic system, which we have, jobs are a prerequisite for the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness specified in the Declaration of independence. If the system is nor producing enough decent paying jobs for everyone who wants one it should be tweaked or overhauled.
On global trade, President Obama should demand that their should be a level playing field with compensation for foreign workers being brought up to standards comparable to that of American workers instead of allowing American corporations to force our workers to accept less and less compensation to keep their jobs from being exported.
On taxes, he should demand that tax rates for higher incomes be returned to at least the level they were when there were balanced budgets and he should make clear to all americans that the days of passing the check for todays extravagances on to future generations is over.
On social programs, he should demand that retirement age be increased to reflect longer life spans, that the FICA cap be raised to reflect income reality and that some benefits not be paid to people who need assistance and not to people who have enough money to buy a wing at a hospital.
In the war on terrorism, he should recognize that enemies are winning by getting us to overreact and bankrupt ourselves by spending trillions on ineffective measures and by continuing to spend more than the rest of the world combined, including our allies, on defense. The people responsible for the recent failed attempt to blow up airplanes with explosive printer cartridges bragged that their invested only $4,200 caused the united States to spend additional hundreds of billions of futile security measures. Shouldn't that tell president Obama something?
On defense, President Obama should take President Eisenhower's warning that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex" to heart and start us down the road to eliminating the dependency of our economy on military spending. The time has come to stop keeping bases open because local economies depend on them and to provide more beneficial sources of income. There should be better income choices for young ladies than exposing or selling their bodies in areas around military bases. Why not have them and local men employed in producing wind powered generators or insulating buildings to reduce our dependence on imported oil?
President Obama should stop worrying about being re-elected and devote the next two years in office to making the world his daughters and the sons and daughters of most Americans will inherit a better place instead of saddling them with more debt. Its a shame that we live in a world in which doing the right things will practically insure a one-term presidency but, as Walter Cronkite said, "thats the way it is."
Sincerely,
Charles Leach
Lynchburg
To the editor:
We seem to have a president playing the part of the turtle in the story of a turtle giving a scorpion a ride across a river with Republicans playing the part of the scorpion. Like the scorpion, Republicans will lash out at the entity that is transporting them across treacherous waters, even if that means they will drown as a result, because it is their nature.
Once more we see the president who promised an end to partisan politics in Washington bowing to Republicans who are lock step in opposing anything he favors for purely political motives. In my opinion the time has come for him to recognize reality and stand up for the millions who are unemployed, the soldiers again spending the holidays away from their families in a country we have no business being in, for workers being asked to take pay cuts and loss of benefits to keep their jobs from being moved to China, for the millions whose homes are or have been foreclosed on while the people responsible for the latest economic collapse are given huge bonuses funded by taxpayers, for young people graduating from college with huge debts and no job prospects, for young people who are faced with the choice of joining the military and being deployed in a misguided war on terrorism or depending on charity and or the vast majority of Americans who have watched an angry ignorant mob, with no plan to restore America, seize control of the country.
The time has come for President Obama to stop attempting to appease the party that serves the interests of the richest Americans and to stand up for the rest of us. If that means becoming a one-term president, so be it. If nothing else, he should use the remainder of this term putting obstructions in place that the party of Wall Street will have to dismantle in order to continue their march toward turning the United States into a feudal society like the one that many of our ancestors left Europe to escape.
On extension of the Bush tax cuts he should be telling Republicans that they have three choices. Extend them only for average Americans, pay for the extension for the rich with cuts in other programs that he (President Obama) will accept or let the tax cuts for all expire as originally intended.
On jobs, he should demand that corporations use the trillions of dollars in cash they are setting on to create American jobs or face substantial fines. If businesses are unwilling or unable to create jobs for the millions of people unemployed as a result of deregulation and Madoff type greed he should demand that the government step in as the employer of last resort. In a capitalistic system, which we have, jobs are a prerequisite for the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness specified in the Declaration of independence. If the system is nor producing enough decent paying jobs for everyone who wants one it should be tweaked or overhauled.
On global trade, President Obama should demand that their should be a level playing field with compensation for foreign workers being brought up to standards comparable to that of American workers instead of allowing American corporations to force our workers to accept less and less compensation to keep their jobs from being exported.
On taxes, he should demand that tax rates for higher incomes be returned to at least the level they were when there were balanced budgets and he should make clear to all americans that the days of passing the check for todays extravagances on to future generations is over.
On social programs, he should demand that retirement age be increased to reflect longer life spans, that the FICA cap be raised to reflect income reality and that some benefits not be paid to people who need assistance and not to people who have enough money to buy a wing at a hospital.
In the war on terrorism, he should recognize that enemies are winning by getting us to overreact and bankrupt ourselves by spending trillions on ineffective measures and by continuing to spend more than the rest of the world combined, including our allies, on defense. The people responsible for the recent failed attempt to blow up airplanes with explosive printer cartridges bragged that their invested only $4,200 caused the united States to spend additional hundreds of billions of futile security measures. Shouldn't that tell president Obama something?
On defense, President Obama should take President Eisenhower's warning that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex" to heart and start us down the road to eliminating the dependency of our economy on military spending. The time has come to stop keeping bases open because local economies depend on them and to provide more beneficial sources of income. There should be better income choices for young ladies than exposing or selling their bodies in areas around military bases. Why not have them and local men employed in producing wind powered generators or insulating buildings to reduce our dependence on imported oil?
President Obama should stop worrying about being re-elected and devote the next two years in office to making the world his daughters and the sons and daughters of most Americans will inherit a better place instead of saddling them with more debt. Its a shame that we live in a world in which doing the right things will practically insure a one-term presidency but, as Walter Cronkite said, "thats the way it is."
Sincerely,
Charles Leach
Lynchburg
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