Editor’s note: The following letter is in response to last week’s letter “Thomas Euell Responds.”
In a recent letter, Thomas Euell complains about the usage of the term “capitalism” by previous letter writers, yet he then compounds this alleged ill with his own.
You proffer the term “liberal” as if it were something heinous, and paint other writers thusly: “your liberal friends” (used twice), “Obama and his ilk… that is what liberals do,” “you and your cohorts,” and then you complain about the term “Romnesia while you offer up “Obamacare.”
I’m not going into what Romney left in Massachusetts, but it certainly was not “a good job in Massachusetts” that you suggest, nor the improvement he credited himself with in education, when indeed Massachusetts led the nation in education prior to Mitt’s moving there.
Before you rant on about the term “liberal,” I humbly request that you visit a dictionary and read the definition, and then consider our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution and most especially the constitutional amendments, for they are all liberal ideas. Picking just one or two, woman’s suffrage and the 13th Amendment might enlighten you about liberalism. Hint: Richard Nixon wanted a national healthcare system, and Abraham Lincoln was responsible for the 13th Amendment. So we see, even Republicans have moments of enlightenment.
Oh, Romney lost. You need to get past that and perhaps together we can work on our nation’s problems, instead of name-calling.
George Unger
Wellington
I agree the election is over and it is very possible that President Obama will serve a third term so we had better get used to him. On the other hand we need to focus on local politics, where our efforts are more likely to make a difference.
Commissioner Jess Santamaria was the prime mover in creating a $9 million dollar a year Inspector General (IG). The creation of that office was as a result of the recommendation of 12 citizens who were convened and convinced that existing policing agencies were not adequate to deal with corruption among government officials. Yes there is corruption in government because holding office creates a moral hazard simply because, in my opinion, those in power have too much power, and it is not limited to any one party.
I opposed the creation of an IG because it would be too expensive and was either redundant or removed responsibility from law enforcement that had done an exemplary job, Santamaria obviously missed that point. We did not need another layer of government. Existing agencies were responsible for the apprehension and conviction of three county commissioners. Instead Santamaria created a monster size agency that he said would not be funded by taxpayers. Something changed his mind. He is now calling for a new tax that will cost taxpayers $9 million dollars a year.
We are being told that the IG budget is $3.3 million, but that figure only covers salaries, benefits and furniture. The other $7 million dollars a year goes to pay for facilities and administrative expenses.