Justice is disappearing in U.S.

Justice is disappearing in U.S.

President Obama has misera- bly failed 20,000+ Delphi salaried retirees, of which I am one. He presided over and promoted inequality and injustice when it came to the Delphi salaried retirees’ pensions. By doing nothing to restore “equality” to those pensions indicates that he just does not care about it at all. How shameful.

The PBGC, wielding its big policy stick, whacked the heck out of the Delphi salaried retirees’ pensions like they were some bloated pi ±ata doll, reducing them by as much as 30 percent to 70 percent. Contrary to popular belief, those pensions were well-funded and fully-earned. The President’s Auto Task Force, along with the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp., Treasury, and its secretary, Timothy Geithner (who also sits on the board of the PBGC), and other players, scripted how the Delphi Salaried Retiree’s Pension Plan would play out, or should I say, peter out. President Obama and his cronies deemed, (doomed), us as having little to no “commercial value” in the emergence of GM and Delphi from bankruptcy. He viewed us as used up, empty vessels set out for the trash man with the rest of the junk. How low and unjust.

“Justice” appears to be something that we can only hope to gain through the courts. If so, we are still there today as we have been from the beginning, asserting our rights to be made whole by whatever legal devices available to us. For some the definitions of “Equality” and “Justice” have been narrowed by the current administration. Have those two precepts become insignificant words? Perhaps the only places where those words really reside are in the dictionary or on “Forever” stamps.

Speaking of “stamps,” I felt the eerie sense of deja vu at the reports of the hastily-approaching closing of Youngstown’s Main Post Office and Sorting/Distribution Center. Postal officials are spreading the “shared sacrifice” mantra to their workers here. It’s just one more economic tsunami to rock the foundations of the lives of the great and special people of our beautiful Mahoning Valley. The Obama administration did it to the Delphi salaried retirees first, and that was just the beginning. The assault continues on with the postal workers, and now the salaried workforce of RG Steel in Warren has been told to expect a reduction in pay and benefits, (but) “only until business rebounds.”

Dennis Beck, Youngstown

Thinking about Memorial Day

Fifty nine years ago, in 1953, I was in my early twenties, my military obligation just completed. That two, three, or four year hitch seemed like an eternity back then, but since then it’s been kind of a blur. I remember: “Boy! Was I glad to get home to see Mom, Dad, sisters, brothers, my girlfriend, and friends from school. I couldn’t wait to talk to them. First things first, I had to get a job, and I wanted a new car.”

Did you see that girl? Wow, I want to meet her. Can you believe it? She said she would go out with me. I better marry her now, before someone else does. We need a place to live, and, guess what, the Stork is coming. Hot Dog! I’m a Daddy. Look at them grow. Twelfth grade, and they’re looking for a job.

Where has the time gone? A lot of water has gone under the bridge. My hair is gray and then, it was full. My back hurts. I used to do “that” in half the time it takes, now. One more year and I can retire. I remember when I worked ... well that was long ago ... not to mention all the hardships along the way.

Memorial Day is almost here, again. As I think of all the graves of young soldiers that gave the ultimate sacrifice for their beliefs, never to experience the things I have seen and done, I bow my head and say, “Thank you Lord for your gift of life to me. May their souls rest in peace. Amen”

This is probably the feeling of most every serviceman alive today.

We have a lot to be thankful for!

Paul Lawson, McDonald

Seniors could repay the kindness

I have an idea that I would like to tell you about. There have been so many articles about students having to “pay to play sports” (or I should say their parents).

On May 4 I attended a program put on by the students at Lakeview High School in Cortland. The students are in the National Honor Society of Lakeview (and believe me there were plenty of them).

Every year they put on a program at the school called a Senior Prom for senior citizens. The kids dress up and provide all the food and drinks, cake and a DJ who played all the music that we seniors liked when we were young.

Seven of my friends and I went together and had the best time of our lives, reliving our youth. The students all dressed up for the occasion and joined in the dances with the seniors. They were very respectful and helpful. This was a free program.

Here’s my idea; Jesus tells us to help each other in life. How about it if the seniors (me), had each senior citizen pay a $5 admission?

It would be enough money to pay for some kids who want to do sports. There were 300 there, so that would be $1,500.

Grace A. Leash, Girard

Time doesn’t change avarice

222“Law OKs one-stop financial shopping” (Vindicator Nov. 13, 1999). Twelve years, and the same problems. To quote from the second article, “[Law] knocks down Depression-era barriers and lets banks, investment firms, and insurance companies sell one another’s products.”

At the time the unquoted remarks were that the law will make sure that 21st century economy really works for our country. What hogwash that was then, and we are embroiled in the same shenanigans 12 years later, with the same consequences. It was pure greed that drove the country into the Great Depression, and it is pure greed that is perpetuating our current problems, and it is the greed that brought us to this point once again.

There is enough blame to go around. “Clueless” says that it is Washington that has put us in the dire straits that we now find ourselves. Affordable housing for everyone. Read the editorial pages of your local papers. The question posed in my letter of Nov. 14, 1999, was: “Can the hearts of men change?” And followed with “we can only pray that they have, or we are all in trouble”. It is not cluelessness that is a “crime.” It is in the hearts of men, who with devious means have found ways to circumvent the law. When there is no law, it makes the greedy more avaricious, and better able to prey on the unsuspecting.

Do we have the moral fortitude do what is needed, or have the politicians so ensconced themselves from the highest political offices to the local township trustees that we cannot remove them. Wake up, America, we are at a crossroads. This is a fight we can win. Go for it.

Leonard J. Sainato, Warren

What to look for in church

I found it interesting to read the article on the May 5 Religion page concerning seeking a home church. Years ago I could have written a similar column.

The writer critiqued the greeters, the music the preacher and the message (it made me feel good), as if someone attended a production at the Youngstown Playhouse, YSU or the Oakland.

Somewhere along the line I learned that our writer had it reversed. We are not the audience watching what God can do. We are the actors and God is the audience. Don’t think the word worship was mentioned, which is what it’s all about. Seek a church where you can worship.

James Crelin, Boardman