Letters to the Editor

Real change comesfrom ideas, not personality

Regarding the Sept. 12 article, "The Palin effect: Obama camp thrown off its stride": With all the hype, you might think the Republican party had come up with a new idea or policy.

In fact, for those of us paying attention, it is clear that the Republican Party is trying to distract voters from their policy failures during the past eight years.

These include: turning projected surpluses to record deficits; diverting resources from fighting the terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan to an unnecessary war in Iraq; damaging our ability to work in coalitions with allies against threats from terrorists; leaving our nation vulnerable to natural disasters like hurricane Katrina; contributing to the widening gap between the top income earners and the middle class and poor, who are the bulk of our society; failing to come up with a solid plan to provide healthcare coverage for all citizens; and not creating a viable energy policy.

Having a witty, charismatic vice presidential nominee does not change the fact that Republican policies have hurt our nation immeasurably. If we, as voters, are going to vote for a witty and charismatic candidate, then let's vote for the one who offers substantive ideas and policy proposals. That is how we will get real change in government policies.

Rick DeJesus-Rueff
Rochester, N.Y.

No help for creators of market crisis

In response to the Sept. 19 article, "Next step in economic crisis: A giant resale agency?": The Bush administration has said it supports a strong dollar policy, yet everything it does lowers the value of the dollar.

When questioned about the lower value of the dollar against the euro in last summer's congressional hearing, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke responded that Americans should buy fewer imported goods.

These men have lost all credibility and shouldn't be allowed to have anything to do with future plans for the economy. Hopefully, they will be gone soon, and someone who has the American taxpayers' prosperity in mind will be in position to repair all the damage they have done.

The market should be allowed to work this out with market realities. It should not be tampered with by self-serving politicians, who want to help out their friends and have the American taxpayers' children foot the bill.

James Thorne
Memphis, Tenn.

For the past eight years, the Bush administration has been proclaiming its belief in free markets while it has blithely privatized government services and drastically curtailed oversight and regulation.

Now, when the rampant abuse of the free markets has taken its toll with a meltdown, Bush appointee Henry Paulson demands the government ride to the rescue.

This leads me to believe that our leaders do not really have faith in free markets, for they are very quick to bail out speculators and gamblers.

Sounds like socialism for the rich to me. Privatization of profits and socialization of losses!

Rather than bailing out the rich, let the government bail out those who are being evicted from their homes, provide government programs for building energy-efficient infrastructure to put people back to work, and bailouts for those in need. There shuld be no bailouts for reckless millionaires.

Richard Girling
San Francisco

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