The master plan will drag U.S. into the Third World

The master plan will drag U.S. into the Third World
EDITOR:
I felt compelled to write this letter after reading about $8.5 billion in U.S. cash missing in Iraq. With no one from the Bush administration stepping forward at this time to explain this one of many of their fiascoes in Iraq, I recall the lampooning of John Kerry during the 2004 presidential elections after he said he voted for the $83 billion for reconstruction of Iraq before he voted against it. Kerry voted for it because he knew that by invading Iraq we would be responsible for its recovery. He later voted against it when he and numerous other senators asked about the Bush administration's plan for accountability of the money and didn't get an answer.
In regard to Iraq and money, I find it truly pathetic that the conservatives in our country feel the need to help pay for this illegal war and finance tax cuts for the wealthy by the slow elimination of the entitlement programs Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
In the mind of the true conservative, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment compensation, workers compensation, minimum wage, time and a half over 40 hours a week and family medical leave are forms of socialism and should be eliminated. Health insurance and pensions should not be a burden of any company. In other words, individuals would be totally responsible for their own selves, no help from the government and only a paycheck from the employer.
If you lose your job or become ill or disabled, don't look toward the government or your employer for help -- you should have prepared for all this in advance. Of course, if all this did come to be, the middle class as we know it would cease to exist and all we would have would be wealthy and poor.
Gee, come to think of it maybe that is the end game for conservatives. Cheap labor. Third World here we come.
JAMES C. K. FELL
Warren
He who steals my words ...
EDITOR:
"In sooth, I know not why I am so sad" -- perhaps by observing in publication the failure of identification of a quotation appearing in a letter to The Vindicator last Sunday under the caption "All sound and fury." But I'm sure I'll feel better once the mystery of its classical provenance is solved. The letter-writer must have forgotten his Macbeth; in my day it was required reading in high school -- at least in The Rayen School. Isn't the Bard still in the curriculum?
It is heartening nevertheless to realize that poetry written 400 years ago -- even if unknowingly appropriated (it's from Macbeth's soliloquy, Act V, scene 5) -- still fits in a modern polemic. We heartily endorse your correspondent's fulminating about the insignificance of the sound and fury coming from the extreme wings, respectively, of the two major American political parties, but he could have put his case with even more & eacute;lan had he also included the reference to idiocy in the words just proceeding those taken.
In the interest of full attribution, my opening line is that of Antonio, the eponymous Venetian merchant, Act 1, Scene 1 -- as if you didn't know
NORMAN RHEUBAN
Canfield
Kids are getting a Head Start
EDITOR:
Thumbs up to the MYCAP Head Start program. Several months ago I was part of the confusion of MYCAP Head Start School's first day.. Children were learning where to go and what to do. Parents or guardians were learning how to sign in and sign out
It did not take long to realize, Head Start is not a day care or baby-sitting program. MYCAP Head Start is a teaching and learning program.
Children learn manners, order, conduct and hygiene. They learn to share, take turns and play fair. They learn there is a time to talk and another time to listen and learn.
They are taught to recognize their printed names. They learn to set up for their meals and snacks, and how to clean up afterwards. For some of these children that meal and snack may be their only meals of the day. They learn to pick up their flatware and napkin and find a place at the table with the other children. They clean the table and put their plates, cups and napkins in the trash. They brush their teeth and find a place on the carpet, ready for a story.
They have really neat parties and holiday celebrations.
There are speech therapy, doctors, dentists and eye exams. They also go on field trips, and there is probably lots more I'm not listing.
I don't know how they do it, but the teachers do not have to raise their voices, or ask more than twice for a pupil to do what the teacher is requesting. These pupils are 3 and 4 years old.
Our little one has learned so much in the weeks and months she's been there.
LOUISE MONTI and VALERY FINNEY
Youngstown
Car theft is a serious crime
EDITOR:
I have a very serious complaint about the people who are stealing cars. My son's car was stolen from the carport in Austintown Feb. 9. It has not been located. If it is located, it may be in terrible condition. I think there should be a very severe penalty for these people if they are caught. Loss of a car presents a terrible hardship on the family.
The law needs to be revised on this. If caught, the thief should be put in a "work program" and must pay the victim back for the loss of their car.
My car was stolen from a carport in Boardman in 2003 by a 14-year old kid. I suffered a great loss in this. The car was found in New Castle in a very damaged condition. It could not be repaired. Of course, the insurance does not begin to cover the cost of the car.
A.M. CRIDER
Boardman
Just like downtown
EDITOR:
The construction slow-downs on I-680 (meek as they are) make it seem like we're living in a real city. I'm looking forward to a day when I come to a dead stop.
EMILY W. SCHAFF
Youngstown