Voting for lesser evil
I held my nose and voted for Sen. Murray. She trumpets saving tanker jobs for Boeing and fighting for veterans’ benefits. While in many ways those are good things, they are in support of a larger flawed policy. Those policies are akin to supporting children smoking, then saving jobs for those who make children’s smoking possible and being proud to provide medical benefits to child smokers. How do you sleep at night, Sen. Murray? Stop the unpaid-for wars.
Worse is the Bush Republican legacy of outsourced jobs, massive bank bailouts, the rich got richer and no one else did, two huge unpaid-for wars. Iraq was never justified, and Afghanistan was morally justified early on, but Bush botched it like everything he touched.
Bush’s legacy, which we are living with right now, is why the country is in such terrible shape – and the only remedy Republicans offer is cutting taxes and limiting social services.
Are they kidding? We tried those Bush policies for eight years and they didn’t work. Republicans drove the country into a ditch with Democrats as irresponsible co-pilots. We need responsible politicians to lead us out of this mess.
Jim Headley
Spokane
Before voting, all of us should honestly consider if our country would have actually been better off without the financial and auto bailouts which saved at least most of our retirement investments and put GM back in business. Or where would we be without the stimulus program which saved the jobs of state employees such as teachers and highway construction workers?
States were slashing budgets, programs and jobs until the federal stimulus program provided relief. As bad as it is, things would have been much worse were it not for help provided in stimulus funds and unemployment benefits.
Think twice before cutting your own throats by selecting anti-government candidates who not only decry the stimulus and bailouts but also are eyeing your Social Security and Medicare as more wasteful government spending. Programs that seem to be unnecessary can provide a lifeline as time moves on.
Butch Otter joins a long list of hypocritical politicians by calling the stimulus program a failure while supporting the state budget with its funds. Keith Allred would be a better alternative for Idaho. In Washington, Patty Murray has been there to help us through these tough times and deserves to be re-elected.
BernaDeane Blackburn
Worley, Idaho