Hide your wallets — the Democrats are coming

To the editor:

What happened? In January 2007, the Dow Jones industrial average was fluttering over 13,000, gasoline cost well under $3 per gallon, and most other economic indicators were strong. The first six years of the Bush administration were marked by economic stability and growth. Now, in the fall of 2008, there is a serious threat of an economic depression comparable to the 1930s.

What happened? The Democratic Party took power in Congress. Sen. Harry (no coal, no nuclear power) Reid, D-Nev., became Senate majority leader. Rep. Nancy (no more drilling) Pelosi, D-Calif., became House Speaker. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and other very senior incumbent Democrats responsible for the creation and oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac operations became chairmen of congressional committees. Also, the election of Sen. Barack (change?) Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Joe (liberal pontificate) Biden, D-Del., became a distinct possibility. All of these leaders of the modern Democratic Party have demonstrated a lack of faith in a free market economy and have advocated varying degrees of government control over economic activity.

Investors are rational people who put real money at risk. The obvious threat of higher taxes, suppression of existing energy resources and irrational political interference in the free market has caused them to lose faith in the economic future of America. Voters should carefully consider what has happened in the past 21 months when they choose our leaders for the next two to six years.

ALLEN HAWKES

LAS VEGAS

Gross malfeasance

To the editor:

After listening to the babbling rhetoric from our presidential candidates, I've come to the conclusion that neither one is prepared to address the issues concerning average American taxpayers.

I have stayed on the sidelines, witnessing this latest economic meltdown that has taken me from a 401(k) millionaire to a pauper. The lax oversight by Congress set in course a perfect storm, allowing the meltdown to take place.

Like millions of Americans, I made a mental determination to put aside at least 10 percent of my gross income to invest for retirement. I have been diligent, sacrificed personal luxuries, taken modest vacations and paid down my mortgage in hopes of one day being able to provide my wife and daughter with the life that they deserve.

I woke up the other morning to find only a shattered glass slipper on my doorstep and tuned in to witness the selling orgy on Wall Street. I am a lifelong Republican, not because I am a wealthy individual, but because I despise unaccountability and the waste of taxpayer dollars. I am starting to wonder where these elected officials come off loading the rescue bill with their pork. How dare they sabotage dire legislation with an additional $100 billion for pet projects, hiding the concerns of lobbyists with the necessities of a ridiculous "rescue" package crammed down the throats of America.

After President Bush and Congress sold, then shoved the $10 billion-per-month cost of the Iraq war down our gullets, I just have to wonder how the American taxpayer is getting stuck with the cost of this occupation while the Iraqi government has a $100 billion surplus. Why aren't they paying for the cost of their freedom?

We need to pull together as a country and retake our position at the helm before Vladimir Putin and his henchmen realize that their newfound oil wealth can juxtapose their position at the top of the heap, leaving this great nation in the dust, suckling at the government teet, waiting for somebody to show us how to leave behind our self-destructive ways.

Any way you look at it, the next president is going to inherit a plethora of troubles and is in the unenviable position leading this country down an uncertain path. Godspeed.

Erik Qualle

LAS VEGAS

A few corrections

To the editor:

Judith Lachance, in her Monday letter to the editor ("Get out the ax"), correctly describes the state of the country in her opening paragraph, but the remainder of her dissertation is a mixed bag of truth and mistaken beliefs that conflict with her original description of our nation's problems.

For instance, after her accurate description of expensive and unavailable health care, she calls for policies (cuts in "entitlements," etc.) that would exacerbate this very problem. Also, her proposed cuts to Social Security target the wrong program, as it has nothing to do with the budget deficit, being separate from the general budget in financing, and presently running a surplus that is being loaned to the Treasury, not subtracting from it.

Aside from that, cuts to Social Security, Medicare and veterans' benefits would devastate and impoverish the already vulnerable, most of whom didn't buy houses they couldn't afford or didn't need, gamble in the stock market or run up impossible-to-pay credit card debt, all of which contributed to the present disaster.

Finally, in attributing the federal budget deficit to the present crisis, she is missing the target considerably, as it was imprudent loans to people who couldn't afford them, but were hoodwinked by unscrupulous bankers into thinking they could, that was the straw that broke the camel's back in the financial markets that were due for a serious correction anyway.

The cause of our huge national debt is mainly the ill-advised, trickle-down tax cuts to millionaires over the past eight years. My question to the supply-side neocons is, if tax cuts are so good for the economy, the huge largesse to the rich over the past eight years should be triggering a period of prosperity. Instead, we're desperately attempting to ward off what could be a depression that would make the late '20s and '30s seem a period of wild prosperity. So what happened?

DAN OLIVIER

BULLHEAD CITY, ARIZ.

Costly promises

To the editor:

It is impossible to tally up the cost of all the entitlements, ranging from health care to a stimulus package to home mortgage bailouts to ad infinitum, that Sen. Barack Obama is promising as he campaigns.

It seems in each city his promises differ, depending on the makeup of the audience. In one campaign stop, he said we all would enjoy the same health care benefits he would, should he become president.

Wow, how can you not vote for Sen. Obama -- and the debt that will accompany all of these promises?

CLARENCE LANZRATH

LAS VEGAS

Who's next?

To the editor:

As a senior driver, when I read the Review-Journal's article about restricting older drivers' licenses ("Older driver dilemma," Oct. 6), I kept hearing echoes of the famous quote by Martin Niemoller (paraphrased):

In Nevada, they came first for the motorcyclists who would not wear a helmet, and I did not speak up because I didn't ride a motorcycle. Then they came for those who would not wear a seat belt, but I always wear a seat belt, so I did not speak up. Then they came for the teen drivers, and I didn't speak up because I haven't been a teen driver for nearly half a century. Now they're coming for me, and who is left to speak up?

Precedent, precedent, precedent, the numbers, the numbers, the numbers and divide and conquer. Incredibly effective tools for those who smugly and arrogantly believe they know what's best for everyone and, if you disagree, well, they'll simply make you a criminal -- by statute.

There's an election starting very soon. As a senior, do you know where your legislative candidate stands on this issue?

KNIGHT ALLEN

LAS VEGAS