Reason for concern

Reason for concern

EDITOR:

These figures are from the Bureau of Public Debt. They are the total amount of debt outstanding as of the end of the government’s fiscal years.

09/30/2006 $8,506,973,899,215.23

09/30/2005 $7,932,709,661,723.50

09/30/2004 $7,379,052,696,330.32

09/30/2003 $6,783,231,062,743.62

09/30/2002 $6,228,235,965,597.16

09/30/2001 $5,807,463,412,200.06

09/30/2000 $5,674,178,209,886.86

As of Friday, the national debt was $9.2 trillion and growing by about $1.5 billion per day.

A day of reckoning is coming and it is coming sooner than you think. It is not going to be your grandchildren who pay for your economic sins, it is you. The national debt has nearly doubled since George W. Bush became the president. Our trade balances are just as bad or worse. Our money is losing it worth on the world markets. To pay off the $9 trillion debt would cost each man, woman and child in America $30,000. We got this way under the stalwarts of fiscal responsibility, the Republican Party. America was sold snake oil for an economic plan.

We are going to pay this debt as we did before. At the end of the Vietnam war we were in debt. To pay for that war, we had runaway inflation. We paid with a devalued dollar. It was the wage earners that bore the weight of that debt, as it will be with this debt. The difference is the debt then was money we owed to ourselves. Much of the debt this time is money we owe to foreign governments. This president has sold us to anyone who would buy.

I am worried, and you should be to. 

PAUL D. SHANABARGER

New Springfield

Why are politicians’ perks
so much better than ours?

EDITOR:

It has long been a source of wonder to many why politicians spend huge sums of money to get elected to offices that can never be a source of reimbursement for the expenditure. One of the main reasons is that it isn’t their money. It is provided in most cases by people who seek to influence the elected official to return the favor.

But there are numerous other reasons. The many forms of graft available is an important consideration. Also the ego boost by the perceived power and importance. Also the many perks the politicos reward themselves with.

Two of them have been brought to my attention recently. The huge tax benefit afforded our state representatives is an affront to all working taxpayers. I would ask every voter to contact your representatives and demand to know if they took advantage of this blatant rip off and to what extent. No tax break should be taken for a day not at work in a Columbus session.

The second unfair perk hit closer to home. I will be receiving a modest increase in my Social Security Jan. 3. Mine will just about cover the increased cost of one tank of gas over a year ago. I have calculated the raise available to our congressman, Tim Ryan, and am pleased to state that his dollar amount is only one and one half of mine. I must also note that I calculated mine for the year and his for one month. Hardly seems fair, eh?

I formally now ask the following:

1. John Boccieri, how much per diem tax break do you plan to claim for the year 2007?

2. Bob Hagan, the same question?

3. Tim Ryan, why do you feel your cost of living adjustment should be 18 times what I received?

I suggest every voter ask their representatives the same question.

ROBERT HUSTED

New Springfield

Columbiana GOP should have repudiated Smith

EDITOR:

Am I dreaming? Did Columbiana County Republican Party Chairman David W. Johnson and three of his hand-picked party elite (Jim Armeni, Adam Booth and former County Commissioner Nancy Cope), in effect, endorse Sheriff Dave Smith to retain his position? By not demanding the sheriff’s immediate resignation and open apology for his reprehensible behavior they have done so. What planet have they been on for the last three months? The more things change in the county Republican Party, the more they seem to remain the same. I’ll bet the other potential candidates cringed after reading that the Salem elites decided they are the party’s second choice.

The endorsement panel is either wholly incompetent, out of touch with reality, or simply doing the chairman’s bidding. Quality leadership means exercising good judgment, even when it means disagreeing with the party boss. But when you disagree with the party boss, heads roll. If you don’t think so, just ask soon-to-be-ex-election board member Al Fricano.

Political parties, especially local parties, should be in the business of promoting good government. In this instance, good government demands the party stand up and say enough. Our sheriff has embarrassed himself and brought shame on the people of this county. Rather than tell him that the job is his until he decides otherwise, the party should be telling him that he will not receive the party’s endorsement if he decides to run. Like any citizen, the sheriff is entitled to a fair trial. But the fact remains he was driving dangerously in a county car after having consumed too much alcohol. Then, to make matters worse, he tried to talk his way out of it. It’s not as if there is any real question about it — it’s all on tape.

Johnson, Armeni, Booth and Cope have squandered the perfect opportunity to move us past this sad chapter in our county’s history. Shame on them.

JIM LEAKE

Lisbon