Who’s afraid of what?

Who’s afraid of what?

EDITOR:

I turned 50 years old recently and I was thinking the other day about what I was afraid of at my age. The Boogie Man? The Taliban? Osama Bin Laden? Then it hit me. What I am really afraid of is our politicians, and the leaders of our financial institutions and big businesses.

This bailout deal has left more than a bad taste in my mouth.

Our leaders have found the time to pass laws to eliminate God from everything, but not to pass laws to protect us from these people who are legally stealing homes and life savings from the American people.

How much money do these greedy business executives need?

Any senator or congressman who put one ounce of pork on this bill, should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. People in this country are really struggling and to give organizations like NASCAR a million dollars, is appalling.

The Feds gave struggling insurance giant AIG $85 billion, and within days they spent $440,000 on an elaborate vacation. Now we’re expected to give them another $37 billion.

This administration has again used fear tactics to impose its agenda on the American people as they did when they invaded Iraq.

I can only hope the people of this crumbling nation will educate themselves on these matters and remember who did what at election time.

DARRYL THOMAS

North Jackson

Support the veterans

EDITOR:

In the last eight years, the trust this country has with its veterans has been betrayed. Now with a pivotal presidential election looming on the horizon, it’s time for a change in the treatment of our veterans.

Given the gravity of the current military involvement, in Iraq where we shouldn’t be, and Afghanistan, where we need to be based on what happened on Sept. 11, our veterans should be at the forefront of national health care. They also deserve a VA department, and it’s related operations, prepared to treat and rehabilitate those who have served, as well as those who would serve in the future.

Under George Bush, we’ve seen the problems our veterans face when the VA isn’t given the resources it needs, or fails in their service to returning veterans due to ineffective leadership from within. John McCain has supported these failed policies. Barack Obama has a plan to modernize the VA. We need to take care of all of our returning troops, and make sure military families are supported throughout the deployments of their loved ones.

Under George Bush’s foreign policy, our Armed Forces are currently strained to the breaking point with very little in terms of support—both when they’re away and when they return. The medical problems of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury should be recognized as serious wounds from Iraq and Afghanistan.

One of the most important pieces of legislation passed in this decade is the New GI Bill, which dramatically improves education benefits for our veterans. Barack Obama was a vocal advocate and co-sponsor of this bill, while John McCain, himself a veteran, opposed it.

NEIL CORSATEA

Cortland