I usually agree with you on most matters but must admit to a few
hiccups in your latest column.

My impression is that people are not blaming Obama for the banking
debacle. The bankers are helping in this by continuing to hand out
obscene bonuses. People hate that!

Let me say that I am a lifelong Democrat. I remember my Dad riding our
horse across the snow-covered fields of eastern Pennsylvania in 1932
to vote for FDR. I was a devoted Obama fan. I donated, made phone
calls, sent e-mails, voted and urged others to vote.

Right now I feel disappointed and betrayed, and I believe those
feelings are mirrored in others who voted for Obama with high hopes.
He has gone back on too many of his campaign promises. We still have
not closed Guantanamo. We still have the absurd “don’t ask don’t
tell.” His Justice Department is in court DEFENDING Bush wire-tapping
policies. He went to Copenhagen proposing an absurdly minimal cut in
emissions. It’s looking like his so-called “health care reform” will
be worse than what we have now, with the insurance and drug companies
even more firmly in charge. What’s worse, it’s an insult to our
intelligence to brag about “covering more Americans” when those
Americans are FORCED TO BUY COVERAGE from the same old profiteering
insurance companies.

People are beginning to notice that Obama, in way too many cases, has
appointed the foxes to guard the henhouse – Geithner, Summers,
Vilsack, and a host of others. Many of us wonder why Obama chose to
bail out the BIG banks and let the smaller ones go belly up. We wonder
why our money went to the banks, rather than to distressed homeowners
where it would have gone back into the economy instead of being
creamed off in bonuses for bankers.

The one area Obama HAS stood firm on is an escalation of the war in
Afghanistan, notwithstanding history or current facts on the ground.
We can’t afford a decent health-care system because it might increase
the deficit, but we can take on another decade of war, at a current
estimate of $9 Billion per month?

IMO, these are the factors that are going to come crashing down on the
Dems in November. I’m guessing that we will have the lowest voting
turnout we’ve had in years, that people will simply stay home, having
been given the clear message by the Democrats that we ordinary people
don’t count.

Tell me I’m wrong. I need a dose of optimism!

L.M. A

We have a silly system: we in CA send our tax money to the federal government and then expect our pols to bring back the bacon (aka “pork”)as much as possible. You might want to write on this topic. Federal taxes should be collected and spent only on truly national programs, e.g., defense, federal courts, etc. All federal money for education, subsidies, favorite pay-back projects of big money donors to congress people, (both Feinstein and Boxer do this all the time) etc., should be abolished.

Ernest A