Doesn’t see evidence of Obama’s ‘grab for power’

Doesn’t see evidence of Obama’s ‘grab for power’

EDITOR:

In reading the Aug. 12 Vindicator, I found a letter writer’s tirade about “power grabs” by the Obama administration to be filled with so many inaccuracies that correcting each of them could be the topic of a college essay. In light of that, I will keep my responses clear and concise.

Regarding health care: I would be very interested where the writer is getting the information that 15-18 million of the 40 million uninsured are illegal aliens. Furthermore, having a mother without health insurance and a father and sisters who are doctors has shown me how truly screwed up our health care system — which benefits no one but the insurance industry — is. Secondly, we already have socialized medicine in this country in the form of Medicare and the VA. Furthermore, those nations with nationalized health care are quite content with their systems and enjoy lower infant mortality rates, higher life expectancies, and lower obesity than we in the United States do.

Regarding Finance/Economy: The writer was partially right about government actions precipitating the financial debacles, but not in the way he thinks. The financial meltdown was precipitated by the federal government’s repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which had previously regulated such risky practices. For that, we can thank lobbyists from, where else, Wall Street.

Regarding Climate Change: As someone who has seen first hand the impact of climate change, I find the Aug. 12 letter’s posturing both ignorant and harmful. The “eco-terrorists” he refers to are those who care about protecting our wild places rather than spoiling them to satisfy our short-term greed. Furthermore, in what way will “cap and trade” lead to America’s “decline and destruction?” What is so wrong with rectifying the damage we’ve done to this planet? While it is true that Earth’s climate has shifted before, it is wrong to suggest that what is happening is not due to human activity. There is virtually unanimous scientific consensus that climate change is being caused by human activity. The only voices of disagreement come from those on the payroll of industries whose emissions and activities, and thus their profits and greed, are the source of such pollution.

I find it amusing that last week’s writer was ranting about the Obama administration’s alleged infringements on individual rights, and yet nowhere does he mention the Bush administration’s various violations of individual and human rights, ranging from torture to the PATRIOT Act (a truly Orwellian piece of legislation) to the atrocities committed by Blackwater mercenaries in Iraq.

LUKE TOCHTENHAGEN

McDonald

Flooding can’t be ignored

EDITOR:

Just after the heavy rains had stopped Aug. 11, I happened to be driving on Glenwood Avenue and was coming up to the intersection at Cohasset which was flooded again. But what was different this day was not the traffic trying to get though the intersection. It was the police car coming at me with its lights and siren on that stopped and then turned around and go back to W. Warren to get were it wanted to go. This is a bad thing when a police car turns around because it feels that the water is to dangerous to go though. If this had been an ambulance with a very ill person on board what would it have done?

The problem that is causing this flood of Glenwood has been around for more than 20 years, and no one has done any thing to fix it. Will it take a tragedy before the city does something about this problem? I hope not.

JAMES D. VAUGHN II

Youngstown