People have to be able to trust their government

People have to be able to trust their government

EDITOR:

Consumers with their insatiable credit demands are blamed for playing a key role in bringing about this recession. In a very limited sense that is true. Is it not the responsibility of banks to just say “no” to people who are living financially on the edge? In a never ending quest for more profits and to keep their stockholders happy, banks conveniently overlooked, changed or ignored their own standards for determining credit worthiness.

Only a few years ago experts were saying that although the United States was losing its manufacturing base, the loss would be offset by the ever increasing demand for high paying service jobs. Service jobs are also being outsourced overseas in ever increasing numbers. People have lost their jobs, retirement funds, homes and hope due to the common belief of many business leaders that only the world wide economy matters and a nation’s boundaries are of no importance. This view is in direct opposition as to what history and common sense teach us.

China is rapidly becoming a major world economic and military power. China has expressed concerns about whether its $1 trillion investment in U.S. treasuries is secure. If China were to dump its investments in our country, the U.S. would be in an extremely deep depression and the interest rates here would skyrocket. The 1929 Depression would look mild to what our country would experience.

It is no coincidence that most special interest groups have offices in our nation’s capital — the mother lode of free taxpayer money. The jobs that former congressmen obtain after leaving office are often with the same business sectors over which they were given oversight while they were in Congress.

Like marriage, our country will not survive if it is not based upon honesty, respect, accountability and responsibility. If people believe that what this country was founded upon is rapidly fading away, then no amount of stimulus money in the world will help in the long run. Once faith is lost, all is lost.

GERALD HEITKAMP

Youngstown

IUE betrayed by Obama

EDITOR:

The Treasury’s auto task force is President Obama’s auto task force. Our president appointed the tax cheat Timothy Geithner as head of Treasury. Our President approved Steve Rattner, who is under investigation for his involvement in a kickback scandal at a state pension fund, to be his auto czar. Harry Wilson, a 37-year-old retired hedge fund star, a leader on President Obama’s auto task force “deals and diligence” team, becomes a key Treasury voice.

Quoting from “Retirees are Road Kill in Rush to Sell GM” on the IUE-CWA.org Web site: “Treasury’s auto task force decided to strip more than 50,000 GM retirees of their right to health care....”

President Obama’s auto task force choose one union over all others. The problem is not the UAW. The problem is not GM. The problem is that we were betrayed by President Obama’s auto task force. It was the continual and direct pressure on GM that gave GM cover to take the health insurance away from over 40,000 IUE-CWA GM retirees.

Politicians need to feel some of our anger and pain. We never vote for any national politician, Democrat or Republican, who was in office when they allowed President Obama’s auto task force to betray over 40,00 IUE-CWA retirees. We need to apply political pressure on those who allowed us to be betrayed.

JOHN A. RICHARDS

Warren