Bush has been a failure; maybe we should boot him

Bush has been a failure;maybe we should boot him
EDITOR:
The presidency of George W. Bush has to be deemed a failure. The fact that he's decisive is not the problem. The problem is with the results that come from the decisions he makes.
The ranks of the poor and the uninsured rose last year. According to the United States Census Bureau, the number of Americans living in poverty increased by 1.3 million. An additional 1.4 million Americans lost their medical insurance. This is the third year in a row that the number falling into poverty and losing their insurance has increased.
Alan Greenspan spoke recently, urging Congress to act quickly to cut some of the Social Security benefits promised to the baby boomers. In January 2001, there was a healthy surplus in Social Security. But that was used for other things. We now have a huge deficit. Oh, and premiums for Medicare? There was just an announcement that they're up 17 percent.
In January 2001, the Dow Jones Industrials stood at 10,587. The NASDAQ was at 2770. On Sept. 8, 2004, the Dow Jones Industrials closed at 10,313, and the NASDAQ at 1850. Going backward is definitely not the right direction.
If you look at "jobs created" vs. "jobs lost" over the past three years, there is a net loss of almost 2 million. Despite the fact that we are being told how robustly the economy is recovering, the jobless rate remains near a stubborn 5.5 percent. That rate was at 4.2 percent in January 2001. Oh, those jobs that are being created, they pay less than those that were lost, and for the most part, don't include benefits.
The Congressional Budget Office has announced that the tax burden on those in America's economic middle class has increased, while the tax burden on the wealthiest Americans deceased. It seems that the redistribution of funds is not only inherently unfair but is not one that will help the economy, since consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of all economic activity and growth.
In terms of foreign affairs, the United States isn't faring all that much better. To defeat terrorist networks, it only makes sense that one should work to isolate them. Instead, we seem to be determined to isolate ourselves. The opinion of the United States of America throughout the world has never been lower than it is at this time.
And then there's the war on terror. That doesn't seem to be going very well either. We failed to "smoke out" the people who attacked us, despite the fact that we were assured they were on the run. Instead we invaded and now occupy a nation that had nothing to do with 9/11 at a cost in human lives and resources that is far beyond what we ever expended on the actual war on terror.
Maybe it's time for a change.
MARY F. SMITH
Brookfield
Resident's water bill, claims by county official don't jibe
EDITOR:
According to your front page article of Sept. 16 our sewer rate is being increased Nov. 1 for the first time in over five years. This is based on a statement by Joseph Warino of the county sanitary engineer's office.
Am I missing something here? Looking back at my bills I was paying a $19.80 sewer charge in August 1999 compared to $23.30 right now for 5,000 gallons of water. Is it possible they have been sneaking in raises without telling us? Also, the cost of the water is almost 20 percent higher than it was in 1999.
Does anyone ever check into the Youngstown Water Department to see if they are wasting money, or doesn't it matter? Tell us the truth about what is going on.
RAY MAGGIANETTI
Canfield