To the Editor:
With the Presidential election less than a week away, there are still undecided voters out there, so here are a few facts to help you not vote for more of the same Republican rhetoric for president. For starters, I went online to the Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll (PollingReport.com), dated Oct. 9, and discovered that only 8 percent of Americans in this poll ranked the War in Iraq as their #1 priority issue. Forty nine percent see the economy and jobs as their primary concern.
When only 8 out of 100 of those polled put the health and safety of our young military personnel as their top priority, something is very wrong! When our kids are at war, and over 4000 dead, that should always rank as the #1 issue. Sure, health care, energy, taxes, immigration, terrorism, jobs, etc., are all important, but not as important as young lives in jeopardy in a war zone! Presidential contender Senator McCain espouses staying in Iraq until the war is over. Senator Obama at least gives a time frame for getting out of Iraq, which will save lives and also save $10,000,000,000 per month. As the old song goes, “Know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em”. Sectarian conflicts, like those in Iraq, can last decades. This war has been ongoing longer than WW II.
President Bush has spent over $600 billion in taxpayer money on the unwarranted Iraq War. He is spending more than $700 billion in rescuing Wall Street because of deregulation oversight. We, the taxpayers, now have that burden, plus paying principal and interest back to foreign countries like China, because of all the tax cuts during Mr. Bush’s eight-year tenure. How is this war funded? It’s borrowed money from foreign countries, that’s how! A quick Internet search indicates that the national debt under our present Republican administration is $10.5 trillion and counting. Tax cuts sound great, but it’s at the expense of borrowing money with interest. Crazy but true!
Here’s the point! Sen. McCain, by his own words, has voted 90 percent of the time for President Bush’s failed domestic and foreign policy initiatives. Folks, if he becomes president, we’ll be in Iraq for many more years (his words, not mine), because sectarian wars last for decades and our form of democracy is anathema to Middle Eastern religious philosophy. Come Nov. 4, your vote really counts a lot and if you still need help in determining who is spreading untrue smears, go to www.FactCheck.org, an online, political watchdog.
David Kolodin, Pemaquid
