Letters to the editor, Aug. 5

Open letter to senators

Dear Max and Jon;

Well, this administration has done it again — several times. It continues to overreach in its desire to control the important facets of our lives. The latest major issues are the finance reform act signed last week and, today, the judicial decision supporting the major provisions of Obama/Holder’s challenge-mail trumpeting the good things the finance bill would bring, while Barney Frank and Chris Dodd’s personal money toys, Fannie and Freddie, were excluded. The first response was a reprise of your original e-mail; I asked the same question again and this time you didn’t bother to answer. Have to admit, I’d also find it very difficult to defend! This is not to say that there are no good provisions, just a very obvious omission.

As to the Arizona immigration matter, that DOJ/WH challenge has all the earmarks of a big time union (SEIU or UAW?). That is, we don’t want to enforce our own federal laws and, by golly, we’re not going to let any other people who aren’t affiliated with us get in on the act! Sounds like objections to RTW all over again.

I don’t hear our Senators voicing any opinions on many of the controversial issues of the day, I guess they are just too difficult to handle. I look forward to the day soon when you, Max, ascend higher in the Democratic Senate structure. Senate Minority Leader or Whip sound about right. I just don’t look forward to you being in the majority for another two years.

Footnote to Denny Rehberg: Don’t you have insurance to cover any losses at your ranch near Billings? Don’t mind an action to make officials accountable (you all should be), but please don’t seek monetary damages from the city, it seems tawdry to me. Otherwise, keep voting to control spending, federal expansion and count me as a supporter to keep the administration from coming anywhere near “amnesty” for illegals anytime soon. 

Bob Hanson

Dayton resident

Placing blame

I think it’s disgraceful that some people and affiliated news media are attempting to blame President Obama for all the problems in the world. If public opinion polls are correct, I stand in the minority in believing President Obama is doing an admirable job trying to put this country back on its feet.

There’s a multitude of issues where I disagree with President Obama, but I also acknowledge that he is working hard to get things accomplished within a politicized and corrupted system.

The BP oil spill is a prime example of misplaced blame directed at President Obama. Republican congressman Joe Barton accused President Obama of shaking down BP by forcing the company to pay for damages. The Bush administration was notorious for ignoring environmental and worker safety regulations but escaped accountability for this situation. Even in the midst of this catastrophe, Congress continues to bend over backwards to accommodate oil companies at the expense of affected communities. I believe President Obama has taken every rational action within the context of his office in response to the BP spill.

It’s not enough to say “no more oil spills.” We should commit ourselves to fully restoring the environmental health and economic capacity of the entire Gulf of Mexico and all other despoiled ecosystems. For the Gulf, that means regulation of corporate hog farms and corn growers who’ve created an oxygen-depleted dead zone for the past 20 years. It also requires restrictions of shoreline developments and restoring wetlands that provide ecological health to the region. I don’t hear any members of Congress calling for such meaningful improvements.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are other areas where President Obama is being unfairly blamed. President Obama is correct in focusing attention to Afghanistan and extricating our military from the unjustified war in Iraq. We are eight long years overdue in addressing the sources of terror in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But now republicans, led by RNC chair Michael Steele, are making Afghanistan into a partisan Obama-bashing affair that undermines the safety and mission of our troops. This is unforgiveable.

I hope others will start to speak out in support of President Obama. He has taken the reins of power following the most corrupt and inept administration in our country’s history. The current economic crisis, corrupt governing structures, and foreign policy quagmires were not of his making. On the other hand, economic stimulus projects, health care reform, and bail-outs are part of a slow and steady path towards improving the lives of Americans and getting America back on its feet.

David Daniels

part-time Polson resident