Speak Out 9/29/08

War memorials

I'M AGAINST interstate interchange memorials even though I know the pain of a comrade's death. In recent years we have come to use the word "hero" somewhat loosely. The fact is that many area men have died in prior wars and are not so honored. My war was Vietnam, and not a day goes by that I do not think of the 58,000 men whose children grew up without a dad. How many more wars and deaths are in our future? This memorial effort is inappropriate. If you honor one, you must honor them all. That's the way we were taught to fight. What's wrong with a plaque of names and inscribed bricks at Freedom Corner and other sites?

Too much government

THE FEDERAL government should never have set up federally owned companies that give mortgages like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The government should never have told banks that they had to lend money to people who could not pay it back. And the government should never bail out the banks after the banks made the mistake of lending money to people who couldn't pay it back. The whole thing is the problem of too much government.

The whole story

REGARDING THE comment that Bill Clinton had a balanced budget and a surplus: Tell the complete story. The last two years of Clinton's presidency was also when Congress was controlled by the Republicans. It wasn't Democrats who did it. Congress made Clinton do it.

Audacious columnist

WHAT COLUMNIST would have the jaw-dropping audacity to write that his main concern about the financial mess we're in is that the billionaires and millionaires will be taxed beyond their means? These undertaxed robber barons are part of the problem but could be, if taxed appropriately, part of the solution. Oh, yes. The columnist? Who else but one-time wunderkind of Reaganomics, wordmeister Michael Jensen.

Winning act

IN RESPONSE to the story "Boyd gives one last performance on 'America's Got Talent' before finale": If this show is about Las Vegas, I can't see Nuttin But Stringz jumping around for 90 minutes. They are what they are: a great 15-minute act. On the other hand, Neal Boyd can sing dozens of opera and popular songs. Go, Neal. You have my vote over and over again. You are the winner.