Bush stimulus package caters to corporations

Bush stimulus package caters to corporations
EDITOR:
We want to applaud Trudy Rubin's column in a recent Vindicator.
In the surge of patriotism following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, President Bush has become so popular that any criticism of Bush policies in other areas runs the risk of seeming unpatriotic.
Rubin does well to expose "cynics already trying to profit from the patriotic tide in ways that make a joke of the term 'common sacrifice.'" At the top of her list she places "House Republicans (backed by the Bush White House) who submitted an economic stimulus package that so panders to corporate donors that even Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill criticized it as 'show business.'"
You may recall that the original Bush plan of welfare for the wealthy was not a stimulus package, but came at a time of prosperity and fiscal surpluses. His top priority when he took office was massive tax cuts for the top bracket of individuals, and for highly profitable corporations, and along with that, repeal of the estate tax.
Is it any wonder that this was seen as a payback for the wealthy backers who put him in office?
Times have changed drastically since those early days of the Bush administration. The surpluses are gone, and we are once again running up a national debt. Do we still need to give these large tax breaks to the wealthy? Will they result in shifting heavier taxes onto the middle class?
Rubin reports that the House (Bush) bill "returns to these companies [corporate donors] all the back taxes they paid over the last 15 years with no requirement that they spend the money on new investment. Some stimulus. IBM would get a $1.4 billion windfall, General Electric $671 million, etc."
Even in time of war, perhaps especially in time of war, good citizens need to be on the lookout for, and ready to speak out against abuses of power.
PAUL and ANNA MARY GAMBLE
New Wilmington
County officials spending too much and unwisely
EDITOR:
An old rural tale passed down over the years tells of a six-year-old farm lad asking his mother, following their late evening meal, exactly why the family's two flop-eared hound dogs spent so much time laying near the wood stove and licking their private parts. The father came to her rescue while thumbing through the newspaper as the mother stammered and stuttered. "Because they can," he said, without looking up at the boy.
"Because they can," might also be the answer in these modern times as to why Mahoning County elected and appointed officials spend so many tax dollars frivolously. The Vindicator has been peppered lately with news articles regarding questionable spending by various county agencies.
One that caught my eye was several thousand dollars for a trip to New Orleans by two men from the Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office. The seminar in New Orleans was on gangs and violent crimes. According to CNN's on-line Relocation Crime Lab, New Orleans is possibly the most violent and corrupt city in the nation. It took a lot of brass just to consider a crime seminar in "Nawlins," let alone going there. The following are 2000 statistics:
YoungstownNew Orleans
1. Robberies3532,733
2. Rapes34280
3. Homicides29158
4. Aggravated 4722,760
assaults
5. Auto thefts8807,118
Across town, at the Mill Creek Metro Parks offices, the appointed administrators (by Mahoning County's probate judge) have opted to spend millions of tax dollars on enhancing the newly built, 11-mile bike/skate/walk trail and a very expensive parking lot and restrooms on Kirk Road.
Although thousands of area school children cross dangerous street intersections alone every day, the Spandex bicycle crowd and their baby dumplings need several million-dollar bridges for their enjoyment and protection. With no one concerned about "out-of-control" spending except The Vindicator, it seems public money spenders continue to follow old practices here in the Valley, even after others went to jail, "because they can."
DAVID METZLER
North Jackson