In Joe LoBue's Aug. 6 letter, "Parties' priorities clear," he concludes that we should vote Democratic because only Demo-crats want to extend a helping hand to those who have lost a job, and because Democrats want to let the Bush tax cuts to the richest 5 percent expire. LoBue's premises are so preposterous that they can't be taken seriously. All moral and principled people want to lend a helping hand to those in need. Many people who don't pull the Democratic lever in the voting booth have seen their tax dollars misspent by the federal government and would prefer to extend a helping hand through churches and other charitable organizations. I'm not sure LoBue would agree that there are only two choices for "paying" for things when the government is involved. Those choices are raising taxes and expanding the debt. However, make no mistake; everything is "paid for" by somebody. There is no "free money," even if Congress assures people of its benevolence. As for the "outrageous" tax cuts, consider where jobs come from. The poor don't create them. It is the "greedy rich" who do that, and it is those "outrageous" tax cuts that spur economic development and hiring in the private sector. Apparently LoBue is buying what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is selling. According to her logic, since "unemployment benefits are creating jobs faster than practically any other program," we would be doing twice as well if unemployment were at 20 percent. As for solidifying Social Security and Medicare, how can we do that? Can anyone solidify a ponzi scheme? Anyone who is serious about saving this country from bankruptcy should be talking about phasing out these programs. LoBue also thinks that only Democrats want to be free of foreign oil. Who doesn't want to be free of foreign oil? The question is: How do we get there? We won't get there if we continue to let our educational standards slide. Consider choosing candidates who face up to the realities of where government money comes from and how wealth is created.
