Reasons for being concerned are growing by the day

Reasons for being concerned are growing by the day
EDITOR:
I don't know about you, but I am becoming more and more concerned about the condition of our country as every day passes. I once said that I believed that my party, the Democratic Party, had gone off the rails. I honestly don't expect some to admit it, but the Republican Party has fallen completely off the truck.
Friends and I talked at length about this recently. Perhaps the Democrats were the tax-and-spenders, but at least they paid their bills. The Bush administration has absolutely no intention of paying their debts. They will put this mountainous debt on the backs of your children, their children, and their children. Republicans also used to stand for states rights and the rights of the individual. That, sadly, is no longer the case. I am deadly serious when I say that I am not optimistic about the future of our country. The debts of our nation are held by countries such as China, Russia, Germany, and countless other nations. As the value of our dollar continues to diminish, and our trade deficit balloons ominously, these owners of our bonds are beginning to wonder. Should these countries decide to cash in, we will see a situation rapidly develop, which will equal, if not surpass what happened in 1929.
I will admit that if I were among the billionaires of this country, I would be ecstatic about the tax cuts. The result for the ultra rich has been wonderful. However, with less funds coming into the national treasury, less funds are returning to the states, and states are drastically cutting funds to cities. As this chain of events occurs, our infrastructure is beginning to crumble. Look at the condition of most of our highways and bridges. The funds which normally come from the state to our public school systems have been cut by an enormous amount. Republicans have been in control of both houses of our state government for many years and refuse to do anything to change our present system of school funding. Local school boards will be asking for more, more and more taxes to pay for education. Senior citizens, living on fixed incomes, are going to be literally taxed out of their own homes if this continues.
The price of prescription drugs continues to rise at an astonishing pace. Gasoline prices are obscene. Why doesn't Congress look into the astronomical rise in health care? The money must be going in someone's pockets.
The oil companies say that demand is the reason for high gasoline prices. It is curious to note that the profits of these companies are up by an enormous amount.
The Republican Party has been in total control of both houses of Congress, the White House, and the government of the State of Ohio for long enough.
JACK H. WILSON
Hubbard
The answer for America:Use oil as if we're adults
EDITOR:
I believe the explosion in gasoline prices is the best thing that could happen to the American people.
First, for too long Americans have treated their vehicle as some sort of special & quot;toy, & quot; rather than the utility it is.
Since we now only produce 37 percent of our own oil, the days of gas guzzling SUVs, 500 horsepower pickup trucks, and others, such as the & quot;military & quot; style vehicles, should disappear off our roads.
The question is, are Americans adult enough to accept the fact this great country of ours is an & quot;oil poor nation & quot;?
It's our own responsibility to control our destiny. Buying highly fuel efficient cars, driving them when needed, where needed is the common sense solution, and possibly the only one. Failing that, and considering all the other money we send overseas for foreign products, means ultimately we're going to make ourselves poorer and poorer moving into the future.
JACK HALL
Canfield