Not a great day for a parade

Not a great day for a parade

I live in an apartment coM- plex in Boardman that includes six buildings, each with 12 units, or 72 residence. There is only one way to enter or exit the complex with a vehicle, on Market Street. On Sunday, March 14, once again, the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade marched past our apartments; and once again, we were warned that, if we wished to travel at all, we had to leave with our vehicles well ahead of the start of the parade and would not be able to return until a short time after the end of the event.

This is my third year dealing with this matter, and I have always left during this approximate 3 hour time frame; but I always wonder how much precious time would be lost if a fire or medical emergency occurred and we needed emergency vehicles. To add salt to the wound, once I am able to return from my “exile”, I have to observe trash strewn up and down Market Street, along the route of the parade.

Believe it or not, there are a lot of us who don’t get excited over St. Patrick’s Day festivities. Maybe those who love this event so much can consider blocking off 72 residences in their neighborhood for upcoming parades. Maybe they will even be willing to clean up the trash afterwards.

LORRAINE M. SCHOTT, Boardman

Why no tea party in Bush years?

I always enjoy the letters sub- mitted by the various tea party factions. I haven’t read one yet that doesn’t contain pure, unadulterated hypocrisy. A recent letter by the president of the Tri-County tea party was no exception. The writer wanted to assure the tea party critics that the tea partiers are more at home with the Republican party than the Democratic party. Her reasons were because the tea partiers are opposed to reckless spending, unions, socialized medicine and, of course, their fantasy of the dreaded “socialist” agenda. They also favor limited government, lower taxes and bringing down the cost of government. So how are they more at home in the GOP?

I would assume that someone who is chosen to be a tea party president would be a student of government and history. The largest tax cut in American history, $288 million was signed not by a Republican president but our current one. In the meantime our last 3 GOP presidents raised our spending, debt and deficits to record levels. The facts are irrefutable. Socialized medicine? If the tea party is truly against this, then they also want to abolish Medicare and Medicaid. They should say if they want Medicare abolished. The Republican politicians that the tea partiers are supporting are covered by an excellent government run health-care plan, but if you and I were covered by that system, the tea partiers would call it socialism. Interesting isn’t it?

I have yet to hear the answer to the basic question that exposes their hypocrisy. Where were they before Barack Obama was elected? There were no angry town halls, no rallies, no marches on Washington, no throw-the-incumbents-out campaigns. Nothing but silence. Silence, despite the fact that the Bush years were filled with everything they now proclaim is ruining America. Debt, deficits, reckless spending, bank bailouts, a $1.2 trillion Medicare drug bill that wasn’t paid for, two wars not even included in the budget let alone paid for, Dick Cheney treating the Constitution like his personal document.Where were the tea partiers? When that question can be honestly answered, maybe mainstream Americans will pay more attention to the tea partiers, but if they haven’t come up with an answer by this point, I believe most of us can figure out the reason why.

Tim O’Hara, Austintown

No such thing as free care

During a recent rally in St. Charles, Mo., President Obama said, “All new insurance plans would be required to offer free preventive care to their customers. And if you buy a new plan, there will be no more lifetime limits on the amount of care you receive from your insurance company.”

If after reading that quote you still believe health-care reform is about “the people,” your head is deeper in the sand then you may even realize.

Ask yourself, what business can survive while giving something away for free.

Bill Hegarty, Poland