Friday, July 12, 2002
Congress must stop giving away America
EDITOR:
Last week, Sen. Arlen Specter had a town meeting in Sharon, Pa. The senator talked about many subjects that concerned seniors and corporate cheating. On the subject of jobs, he wanted people to start more small businesses.
I believe small business is over-taxed and most of them fail as a general rule. I told him that I was tired of trying to out- run NAFTA and that we didn't owe Mexico, China or India anything.
He responded, that Mexico needs our help. I don't recall ever being asked if I wanted to give them my livelihood, my security, my benefits or my retirement.
Our state is next to the worst when it comes to people leaving. Its population is the same as it was in 1940. Our state's budget is hurting, and many of our counties and towns are running in the red.
Years ago, we didn't have the power plants needed for the steel mills to compete. By the time we got them, the mills moved on. Then NAFTA came along and closed down most of our manufacturing plants.
I guess it must have been just like the big corporations' thinking that we're seeing today. You can't keep taking and lying and expect to end up ahead. It always catches up with you.
To all the members of Congress who think that they can keep giving away America, go ahead. Try to meet your budget without getting into Social Security. The reason you can't do it is because you don't have the revenue. You don't have the revenue because you let major corporations pay little, if any, tax while sending most of our jobs to foreign countries.
RONALD SLOAN
Mercer
Republicans shut out of Mahoning Valley politics
EDITOR:
It was not surprising that the UAW gave its whole-hearted endorsement to state Sen. Tim Ryan. The labor community has long been a powerful political voice here in the Valley, but if you are a Republican you need not apply.
Regardless of qualifications, record of service and being a friend of labor, Ann Womer Benjamin did not even get a call for an interview prior to the endorsement. How could the UAW rank and file get a fair view without the interview process? Was the selection process fair or fixed? The AFL-CIO said if this were not a Democratic area they would have endorsed Ms. Womer Benjamin.
Yeah, right. Just look at me when you lie.
Lest we forget, over the past 12 years, it has been Republican lawmakers who have made the Lordstown Assembly plant a top priority for the Valley where they get very little political benefit.
The Valley's voters, unions and political organizations must look at each candidate and not just at their political teammates.
Local labor should take a trip to Oz and ask the great and powerful one for a brain, a heart and some courage. We can not continue with politics of the past that do not work.
MYKE CLARETT
Youngstown
Youngstown police must work to earn respect
EDITOR:
It is said that trust is earned and not given away free. If this is true, then the Youngstown Police Department will not earn my trust.
I say this because the police department has officers on its force who believe that if a person is in her own yard and someone accosts her in it, it is the victim who is at fault and not the attackers.
On July 6, a 64-year-old woman was accosted on her property on the South Side of Youngstown by three young man between the ages of 19 and 22. When the police arrived, they told the old woman it was her fault for coming off her porch and being in her yard.
So because of this event, I say the Youngstown police will not have my trust until they earn it.
JAMES D. VAUGHN
Youngstown