Letters and Comments for April 2, 2009

Letters and Comments for April 2, 2009

Same old policies won’t work

To the Editor:

The Observer report on the recent session that Rep. Greg Walden held with the chamber of commerce was disturbing. Greg had a good reputation for working across the aisle when he was in the Legislature. None of that seems true now. His refusal, along with that of every other Republican in the House, to support the recovery plan was a stunner. Do they want this to fail?

Union County unemployment is almost 15 percent and no one knows where the top is. The claim that Republicans can produce more jobs for fewer dollars doesn’t hold water. With control of both houses of Congress and the presidency, we saw deficits year after year. By the time Bush folded up the tent and headed for Texas we were $1 trillion in debt and unemployment was up by 3 million. That means we were spending buckets of money to lose jobs.

Congress tried giving away the store to Wall Street with the hope that the financiers would fund our retirement and get money in our pockets for health care. It was fool’s gold for everyone but the suits. Millions have watched their savings evaporate. Meanwhile, our manufacturers have gone overseas thanks in no small part to the burden of health care costs. None of this has worked.

We’ve talked a good game for years about affordable health care, changing the ways we use and produce power, about re-structuring our transportation systems, education and the competition we face from the rest of the world. None of it has happened. We’re 30 years behind the curve on energy alone. This has forced us into a state of perpetual war that costs us billions more. It’s long past time we get off this treadmill.

The spike of gasoline prices to $4 a gallon last summer was a message from the future. We need to make the changes that will get us to a different place, as painful as they may be.

How about we try this: let’s spend the next trillion getting there. And let’s see if we can’t get a few Republicans to go there with us.

Norm Cimon

La Grande

‘Tea party’ set for April 15

To the Editor:

The U.S. government has grown too large with too much power centralized in Washington.

To stimulate the economy and grow the government at an alarming pace, the Obama administration and Congress are spending billions and proposing bills in the trillions.

However, the government is broke. It has no money.

Obama is proposing two options: (1) borrow money, stealing from our grandchildren to pay ourselves, which is morally wrong, or (2) print money, which devalues the dollar, stealing from Americans’ savings, which is criminal.

The government is the only one that can pull off such a fraudulent ploy to steal from hard-working Americans and not go to prison. President Obama and the liberals in Congress, with their arrogance and power, are doing everything they can as fast as they can to shove this enormous debt down our throats. Congress is voting for these outrageous spending bills without even reading them. How is this for our high paid representatives living up to their duty?

President Obama has no compunction to go to China begging for billions in loans. Am I missing something here? How did America get to this point?

We must start thinking about the consequences of such blatant disregard for the Constitution and the values of thrift and honesty. Economic laws are immutable, and our government is showing absolutely no regard for them.

The stakes are high. High taxes, runaway inflation and loss of our liberties are the outcome of such recklessness.

We must reverse these trends. Join us for La Grande’s “Tea Party” April 15 starting at 5:30 p.m. at Max Square across from the library. “Renew the Revolution” sending a loud message to Washington: Stop this insane borrowing and spending. For more information, see www.oregonteaparty.com.

Rae H. Anderson

La Grande

A caring community

To the Editor:

I have had numerous opportunities over the years, through my job as a paralegal and with my political activities, to observe the daily workings of our local law enforcement officials. Lately it seems we tend to hear plenty of negatives in regard to those city employees. Personally, I have always observed them all, each and every one, to truly be dedicated to their work.

Last month I saw them in an even brighter light. Anyone who knows me understands the close relationship I have with numerous senior citizens in town. One such friend had been failing in health and I had asked nearby neighbors to keep a watchful eye on her home. That particular Saturday started with a call from Ann Yoder, a very observant neighbor who had noticed that Bernadene’s squirrels were chattering like crazy because their regular feeding time had come and gone. I was unable to contact my friend by phone or by persistent banging on her doors, so I called the city police department. Officer Matt Duncan responded and soon called me with the very sad news of the death of my long-time friend.

Duncan and Sgt. Scott Franks spent the next several hours taking care of the necessary steps and details. They allowed me to sit with my friend, to cover her with her favorite afghan, allowing me ample time to say my goodbyes. I was so immensely impressed with the dignity and reverence they granted Bernadene. And then the gentlemen from the funeral home arrived, and again, I was so grateful for their kindness and empathy. Phil Myers, a retired

La Grande police officer, now working for Daniels-Knopp Chapel, and his assistants, gently took care of their tasks.

All of these individuals, working together, made my friend’s passing easier to accept.

I have always believed La Grande to be a community of caring individuals, everyone from observant neighbors to public servants, and now I have one more concrete reason to believe that even more.

Di Lyn Larsen-Hill

La Grande