Re: The world is watching us spend away and The moderate Paul O'Neill was an antique used to decorate Bush's Cabinet, Jan. 15.
After reading last Thursday's columns by William Gross and Matthew Miller, I became even more horrified than I already am at the potential impact of our national debt and soaring deficits. I'm concerned that the average American doesn't realize the potential ruin that awaits our great country if something is not done.
The national debt has topped $7-trillion. To pay that off would mean that every American citizen would owe more than $23,900. It's estimated that since Sept. 30, the debt has soared by more than $2-billion per day. In a globalized world with a globalized economy, this means impending doom unless something is done. The behavior of the foreign investors is far from predictable, and depending on their optimism is beyond irresponsible.
CEO George W. Bush seems to have taken some lessons from his old buddy (and leading campaign donor in the past) Kenneth "Kenny-boy" Lay. We all remember what happened to Enron and its employees. President Bush and his irresponsibility are setting up every American citizen for a fate similar to that of the poor former Enron employees. We cannot allow this to continue. We owe it to ourselves to unseat this guy, or we'll be owing a lot more in the (possibly very near) future.
-- Matt Tucker, Clearwater
Overextended and heading for a fall
Re: The world is watching us spend away, by William H. Gross, Jan. 15.
No historian am I, but for some time now I have been considering the conditions that contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire and our own Bush-induced plight. Thanks to William H. Gross, some of those thoughts have been put into words, and I hope they will be heeded. The frightening fact that we are overextended and living beyond our fiscal means, seems not to be of concern to our current elected officials. The president's latest audacious plan to build a base station on the moon, and to travel beyond, is unbelievable in light of the financial burden already incurred by him and his war. His ability to push his agendas, without much opposition, demonstrates the power of incumbency, as well as the lack of resistance. We are not, as he seems to believe, invulnerable to collapse. He forgets his obligation to the people, and courts danger by his recklessness.
The following quote from Edward Gibbon's General Observations of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, is in my opinion, one to be reckoned with:
"Prosperity ripened the principle of decay, the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest, and, as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight."
-- Orfeo Trombetta, Seminole
Loss of jobs is frightening
Re: IBM "offshoring" to save $168-million, Jan. 20.
This article about IBM's moving jobs to China, India and Brazil is frightening.
"Cheap foreign labor" has already resulted in major inroads by foreign manufacturers in our country's textile, electronics as well as our automotive industry. When is the last time you saw "Made in the USA" on a shirt, pair of shoes or an electronic product?
Toyota, Acura, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, BMW are names of autos as common on our streets as Ford, Chevrolet or Plymouth. Thousands of automotive jobs have been lost to "cheap foreign labor." Production of autos and trucks in U.S. based factories has been reduced and many manufacturing facilities have been closed.
If IBM's practice is followed by other "high tech" companies, the future for coming generations of Americans is indeed be bleak.
For me, I will no longer purchase an IBM product! Buy American, buy Apple!
-- John Olszewski, New Port Richey
The message in the mugs
If you want to know what's wrong with the economy, the answer is as close as your dishwasher. I just went to empty the dishwasher and all these coffee mugs were upside-down on the top rack. As I started to pick up the mugs I couldn't help but notice where they were all manufactured. Now, I am not making this up and, yes, it proves I have way too much time on my hands, but here is the evidence:
A Far Side/Gary Larson mug: made in Taiwan.
A Walt Disney Half Marathon mug from 2000: Made in China.
A personalized "George" mug from NASA Space Center: Made in China.
A Gasparilla Distance Classic mug (Tampa): Made in China.
A Harley-Davidson lookalike mug (not licensed): Made in Korea (I assume South).
A Randy Travis country mug: Made in Japan.
A Crown Corning mug (Corning, N.Y.? - No!): Made in Japan.
Here's my favorite:
A USA mug complete with American flag: Yep! China!
There was only one mug left way back in the cabinet. A real Harley-Davidson mug, "Official Licensed Product," It doesn't say where it's made, but there was the name of the company that made it: XPRES, division of the Encore Group. I looked it up on the Internet. It turns out the company has its own mug manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, N.C.
I might be drinking Colombian coffee tomorrow morning, but I'm going to drink it out of a "made in USA" mug! Then I'm going to put another coat of wax on my Harley. Then I'm throwing out all these other mugs. Then I'm going down to the Harley dealer and buy new ones.
Thank God none of them were made in France!
-- George Paradise, Safety Harbor
This is a poor time for pork
An interesting connection exists between The sea lions? You paid for them, on the Jan. 16 Page 1 and that day's lead editorial Starry-eyed vision. In the latter you point out that the NASA moon-to-Mars program would come at the expense of Social Security, education, Medicare and other programs. The projects in the massive bill now being considered in the Senate, as stated by the Taxpayers for Common Sense, will have the same result. These projects should be either tabled or funded by the local folks who want them.
Lots of such pork has been delivered to Pinellas County by Rep. C.W. Bill Young over the many years he has served in Congress. He has accomplished many positive things during his multiple terms, and I respect him. This is not the time, however, for such irresponsible spending, initiated by him and many others on both sides of the aisle.
-- Betty Upson-Schmitz, Largo
Gambling with the rent money
The space program is a good investment for our nation. Investing is fine as long as the rent is paid. We should never gamble with the rent money.
-- Frank J. Condurso, St. Petersburg
Free trade will have a high price
Re: If trade isn't free, then neither are we, Jan. 12.
In this column boosting free trade, Michael Kinsley wrote that in the long run it will benefit the United States. He admits that not only are we losing our low-paid industrial jobs but now we are also losing our high-tech engineering jobs to India and China. He justifies this with a "that's the way it goes" attitude. He concedes that free trade as it now stands does make some Americans poorer but he insists that it will make others richer.
I have no argument with the statement that it will most certainly make the large corporations and their largest shareholders richer, but it will certainly make most Americans poorer. Kinsley seems to believe that a highly paid computer engineer with a big mortgage, two kids and lots of unpaid college loans is just being selfish for not applauding when his job goes to Calcutta to a person who will do the job for one-third of the salary. Under free trade, this poor guy will not even be able to get a job as a janitor or a taxi driver, as those jobs will soon be filled by "guest workers" from Third World nations.
Jobless Americans who see their quality of life and that of their children going down the drain will not stand by and do nothing even if Kinsley thinks that they are just being selfish. I believe in protection. We should protect our family, our nation and our lifestyle and we should not protect the bottom line of the international corporations who have convinced our "leaders" that leading us to the bottom of the economic barrel is really in our best interest.
-- Richard Driscoll, Clearwater
Michael Jackson and journalism
I have been watching the coverage in the St. Petersburg Times on Michael Jackson trial without interest. In an election year, when there is so much that we - as the most important commanders of our country, voters - should be informed about, I find it very disappointing that the news media widely choose to cover this story. Essentially this is a story that does not matter to anyone but those immediately involved in the case. It has no national importance.
Often the media talk about our "right to know." Well, it would sure be nice if they spent a little more time on what was truly important to us. Give us an overview of the state's budget and spending for the last four years. Review the major campaign promises of Gov. Jeb Bush and then give us an objective assessment of how he has delivered on those promises. The Times could be using that front-page space to cover any number of more important stories. You do have a responsibility to tell us what we need to know, not just what you think might be most entertaining.
-- Vincent H. Scott, Pinellas Park
Jackson trial is a serious matter
There are four outcomes to the Michael Jackson trial. They are:
Guilty, found guilty and he goes to jail.
Not guilty, found not guilty and he goes free.
Guilty, found not guilty and he goes free.
Not guilty, found guilty and he goes to jail.
Let's hope it's not the latter two.
Let's let the courts and attorneys do their job and keep the media out of the "frenzy-circus" stage.
This is a very serious matter.
-- Raymond F. Caswell, Tarpon Springs
Not exactly clear on rules
Re: Tardy and tacky, Jackson makes court date a party, Jan. 17.
"I love an outlaw," wrote Gina Vivinetto. "I think many rules are made to be broken. That's why I love rock 'n' roll."
I find Ms. Vivinetto's article a bit of a paradox. On one hand she questions Michael Jackson's behavior surrounding society's attempt to make him accountable for rules that he has been charged with breaking, but on the other hand she states that some rules are made to be broken.
Ms. Vivinetto's rule philosophy is shared by many and is exactly why our jails are overflowing with rule-breakers. I think George Benson best sums up Ms. Vivinetto's thought process: "lost in a masquerade."
-- David Williams, Clearwater
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