Open letter to whoever is bailing everyone out

Thanks for supporting social welfare instead of Corporate socialism, now picture the orphan or indigent or the working poor riding buses to work, now with all the bailing out of corporate shells, finally the far right may now see its always been about humanity and living souls, about access to healthcare etc NOT a gov handout or bailout.

I hope you and everyone who reads these words
Go out and
VOTE!!!

Dear David Karlsruher:

In Response to: “Open Letter to Whoever is Bailing Everyone out”

“That $4,000 bucks is still owed and I forgot long ago everything I learned in college,” is quite apparent in your letter to “Money Bags.” You may have forgotten economics or simply never understood that homeowners are a cornerstone of the American economy! To allow these institutions to fall would truly burden hardworking American families even here in El Paso and the disastrous effects of a lost home would in effect forbid the consumer to reinvest in the American economy; be it by regular shopping or even stock market investments. But do not take this Democrat’s word for it, I am sure you can find something well informed on the subject from one of President Hoover’s playbooks. After all, my new adoptive town does hail you as a trusted and informed writer.

I am currently a student at Baylor University but plan to move and raise a family in El Paso in 2009. Originally from North East Texas, I met the love of my life in Washington, DC where we both worked for different Congressmen. Though I see much potential in the region overall, I cannot help but notice defeatist attitudes like your cynical letter.

To ridicule this economic solution is quite callus of you when you do not offer any other. I would suggest you reacquaint yourself with those lost college skills and use impartial news coverage to offer the public sound judgment instead of witty and useless commentary that leaves no solution.

With a baby on the way, my wife and I plan to buy a home in her hometown of El Paso and become contributing citizens to this great international city of opportunity. Rated as one of the safest cities in our great nation, we must understand that a bad economy and homelessness can breed criminal activity in even the most honorable of people when the individual welfare of any family unit is at stake.

In ending, I would appreciate a more informed read from you because I know you are better capable of doing your homework. I have read some of your better works and know this was a sloppy half-ass job on your part. But if we the reader allow you the writer to supply us with information that isn’t fit even for the Enquirer, then what kind of community are we working to build?

Thank you for your audience.

Sincerely,

Getsemani Yanez

The taxpayers bailed them out, that's who. This Bush-McCain capitalism looks so much more like socialism than say . . . universal health care.

Hypocrites.

My bailout is $18,000. Who's in to help?

An amusing letter David….funny stuff.

I see you have bought into the story that somehow these financial institutions are in trouble solely on their own business management "mistakes". That is only half the truth.

The rest of the story that I'm not reading about in these doom-and-gloom news reports on failed financial institutions is that one of the principle factors in their demise was in fact government regulation.

More specifically, it’s Congressional interference in the free market through legislation such as the Community Reinvestment Act. Nothing more than legislated Socialism, it required banks and mortgage companies to market and document their efforts to provide high-risk loans to lower income applicants and small businesses.

Like an Affirmative Action for loans, government interference through bad laws like CRA pushed businesses to open up "The American Dream" in the guise of a home mortgage to people who can't really afford to own a home or to buy a home well beyond their means to repay, or worse, to people who just don't pay their bills.

It sounds great on the surface, who didn't love Robin Hood, after all.

But anyone with even a minimal knowledge of economics could have predicted what would eventually happen. What's amazing is how the banks managed to keep the foreclosures at bay for so long.

Oh, we can point the finger at the millionaire managers of these banks and they do shoulder a large part of the blame. They are easy to hate, aren't they?

But in this case the "rich" that Robin Hood is stealing from are taxpayers like you and me and the "poor" are still going to lose their houses and their dreams. Robin himself, the short-sighted economic wizards who we keep voting for like our current political leaders, well, they aren't taking any of the blame for this, are they?

Amen.

Stop writing letters to yourself. Such a taxpayer.

Funny.

Texas Monthly is going to grab DavidK and give him a monthly column.

Stop Global Whining: We are indeed a nation of whiners, weiners and winners.

For individuals, bankruptcy offered a way out of mistakes; we eliminated debtors prison; without any regard for your own credit rating, you can essentially walk away from debt you owe anyone including relatives, mom and pop shops, gov't, anyone. So no one denied the opportunity to walk away. Who pays? everyone else always pays.

But that is the American way! Banks lend money to construct buildings we do not need; workers are hired and supplies purchased; do these workers or vendors care where that money comes from; whether the owner is going to pay it back? They do not care; as long as they get paid weekly?

Those workers are us, we do not care if the money is stolen, now or later. As long as we, the pensioner, gets his profit (wages ) out of the deal, we do not care who gets left holding back.

So when you whine, conduct a little self-analysis: where in my life, have I taken (stolen) an opportunity, paid for by someone, because I failed to pay up?

AIG, Lehman Bros, etc. are thiefs, but we should be like Carmela in the Spranos, conveniently forget, we all usually live off, somebody else's money.

Thank you.

I wish Newspapertree would stop lowering itself with articles from this clown. I've seen better writing from a 5th grader. You can't compare your personal financial mistakes with the current banking/mortgage/financial crisis in which millions of Americans would be affected if the government took no action. Oh, and please don't worry about being mentioned on CNN.

You are back in th groove big-time, David. This is what you are made for! Real issues. I agree whole-heartedly and would enjoy being at the cook-out for the hand-out.

suggestion to david k, take some journalism or writing courses. very poorly written article that fails to discuss the underlying problems, or the consequences if the government fails to bail out these corporate failures.

How appropriate and timely. Very Funny and on point.

the government's action was to prevent a deepening of the crisis and help protect innocent americans. this article is nonsense and sophomoric.

wake up! this article is a spoof. if you couldn't figure that out then you were had.

Great article for a middle school newspaper. Perhaps Karlsruher can learn some writing lessons from Getsemani Yanez, who provided an articulate and well-written response.

Who is this writer, and why is he given a forum to write this crap? David K, you have no clue, and no writing skills -- a poor combination for a journalist. Let Sito Negron and David Crowder write the real stories.

Oh, its a "spoof". Noooo, it comes across like such a scholarly article. I guess we were all duped. Does that mean we can't go to the cookout at Karlsruher's house?

It's really sad that there is no more humor left in El Paso. Or is it that some of the respondents just want a venue to vent their frustration over this "financial crises" and this just happened to be the one article that allowed the way too serious comments. It's refreshing to be able to laugh at ourselves once in awhile. To the Baylor dude - please don't come to El Paso - you are way too serious and you have to have a sense of humor to live in El Paso.

1. I am not a journalist. Never was and never will be. I'm not interested in being one. I enjoy writing opinion pieces.

2. Learn to take a joke.

3. Getsemani - please don't move here. As you can see we have already met our quota for humorless people.

4. If you are so desperate to have a "serious" discussion on this "crisis" then you should write something and submit it to Sito Negron at sito@epmediagroup.com. He'd be glad to work with you to get your arguments "posted" to Newspaper Tree.

david k, you tell people to "take a joke", well you need to "take criticism". Getsemani Yanez does not lack humor, you lack talent. There is a difference between juvenile humor and satire. Your writing falls into the former. As for me, I welcome Mr. Yanez and other young professionals to our fine city.

looks like david k is a very sensitive, misunderstood person. since you don't like negative responses from readers, perhaps you can write your future "opinions" in your diary or journal.

Doesn't everyone get it? "Dear Money Bags". Get it? David K is writing a letter to someone with lots of money so he can get a loan to pay for his debts . . . like Fannie and Freddie. I can't stop laughing. What a novel idea. Average people asking for a bailout from the government.
We get the premise of the article. It's stupid and not funny. Next time, perhaps you can add a photo of a half naked girl dancing on a stage. This way, even if your article sucks, it won't bother me as much.

no such thing as a free lunch pal, didn't you ever take economics in college?

you really want out of debt, change your name and move to canada or something.......

Spot on.

Here's an idea: If I make financial mistakes, I'm liable for them, right? So lets do the same to the greedy twats in charge of AIG and the like. $85 million in debt split equally across their board. Get some of those annoying "credit management" companies to call them at all times of the day, asking them how they want to start payments.

Garnish their wages too. In my state they can garnish up to 25% of your net (or is it gross? I can never remember). These rich bloodsucking bastards can afford much more than that, since they owe SO much lets garnish 99% of their seven digit salaries. They'll still be making minumum wage, which we've been told over and over again by their Republican friends is PLENTY to live on.

Hey David:

If you have any luck, please send em my way. My company, Giant Robots of Destruction is financial peril and desperately needs a government bailout. I need about 20 million dollars right away or the company might go under. Please send any government money givers to www.giantrobotsofdestruction.com

Thanks

Kmuzu

This is great creative writing!!!! Totally how I feel only mine is we took money out of retirement to fund the new biz, etc etc etc. so far we have helped the economy but it isn't helping us! rightnow. I need a bailout too

Yes! Be sure to vote out the dems who took money from them, Obama getting the second HIGHEST pay out...from them in just four short years......http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/09/update-fannie-mae-and-freddie.html

O_o i hope they can help my moms out to but the likly hood that will happen for either of us is zero srry to say ........

ROFL! I have stumbled your fantastically funny letter to many people, who will be sure to stumble it forward. The overly serious and humorless responses are almost as good as the letter for laughter! I personally have just relocated from South Florida and could use a bail out too, as could most of South Florida. Add us to the list please, lol.

I wonder if you have taken the time to investigate your investments. How much of your money is tied up in any of these companies that have been bailed out? Have you taken the time to investigate how their failures would effect the economy? While we will never know if the inaction of the government would have created a depression, I personally would rather not risk it. The millions of people who have insurance and investments either individually or through the company they work for would rather not have their life savings or livelihoods destroyed. While yes, the fat-cats profit from this, millions of middle class Americans may be able to keep their retirement funds, jobs, and homes.

ooooooooh ... lots of comments on this one! . . . . .

Well, I need a bailout too! . . . . .
I have lost over 500 grand in El Paso, with 2 peso devaluations over the last 25 years and after 911, I lost 90% of my business and income for several years. . . . . .
So, I need a bailout too.

We really do have free market capitalism for you and me and socialism for corporate america. The bailout as of today is estimated to cost as much as the Iraq war. It looks like the invisible hand of the free market is about to strangle us.

Whatever your criticism of David K's piece, his work accomplished what many journalists and news outlets strive for on a daily basis: engaging an audience and provoking discussion. And it was a great reminder that news is as much about opinion as it is about "unbiased" reporting (does that even exist when details are routinely censored from news reports? e.g. David Crowder's discussion of suicide, http://newspapertree.com/opinion/2852-let-s-talk-about-suicide). In this Internet day and age, everyone can have a "published" opinion thanks to comments sections like this one - but don't forget it was only because the op-ed writers were there first.

can I be part of your bailout ? I owe more than you do. We need a few more INDIVIDUALS so if we get enough of us together the govt. may step in and bail us OUT.

. . . and guess who gets to foot the bill, yeah for all the poor people! Next time you see a rich CEO on the street make sure you shake his/her hand and let them know you got their back.

…But wait, if under the Bush administration we are not getting taxed, then really you don’t pay anything and the bailout is foreign for our benefit! Or if Obama wins then he will be taxing the “rich” and CEO’s then the middle class will not suffer the tax strain. Wow, it all works out. The money goes round and round and the middle class wins! On the other hand, if we do not bail them out, the middle class loses… :( booooo….

I have to say, satire was lost after mistake 2 in this piece. It just became a whiney piece. My problem is not with David K, it is with the piece itself. The other problem is with one of David’s jesters saying it speaks the truth and the other one saying it’s just for fun! This just shows they are as confused as any other reader. I suggest the court get together for coffee or scotch or both and possibly some pecan pie to discuss their strategy on these comments.

Cheers!

We the neo-con executive exploiters of America must form a secret society bent on forming an off-shore, hence legal medical abortion service. With the help of the likes of Tom Delay and his cohort Jack Abramoff, we can tie up the laws through lobbying and payoffs so that in place of 'Health Care Refusals' for abortions, recommendations for our private off-shore services can be introduced! We could franchise out clinics to 'Deserving People' who support our political views with money sent to the right places, and then load executive boards of these clinics with thousands of high priced executives and then run the thing broke, and let the poor working saps of America foot the bill through a presidential decreed cash bailout scheme, printing even more money for our pockets and increasing inflation for the working class. Sounds like a plan - not unlike Freddy and Fanny, say whot! - Get your cricket bats out for some jolly good kneecapping of the middle class, gents they are ripe for 'Change' and asking for it!

Dear "Freedom of Expression", David Ks articles does not provoke discussions. The responses are not a discussion of the issues - they are primarily a criticism and mockery of the writer. There is a big difference. I agree with many of the other responders that this person's writings are not very impressive. Sorry.

getsemani yanez,

just when I thought you had any idea about what the meanst to "bail out" these companies you make your last comment and prove you know nothing about the subject.

You also fail to realize that the top income earners in this country pay more than half of the the taxes in this country. The middle class itself is screwed by the Democrats AMT hardline. Nearly 30 percent of the country pays zero in federal income taxes. How fair is that? Some pay more to be Americans than others.

The failure of these institutions hurt the rich 100 fold more than the middle class. You should be happy that the industrious in this country have taken such a hit. You are winning the class war that Carl Marx wanted you to win.

You said it perfectly.

looks like Getsemani frustrated David K enough he had to respond with a little “substance”. He even threw in a statistic. Too bad it reflects his true colors - another republican angry at everyone. How much do you want to bet with all of his complaining, David K is a low income earner paying little in income taxes. What a hypocrite! I think Newspapertree should replace David K with Getsemani.

Dear bear, WC, george and Cry Baby,

If you can't stand to read David K's articles, then STOP!!! reading them. He is obviously a better writter than you think, because you morons can"t stop reading him. If you are all so well informed on issues and don't want to read David K. Write your own articles and submit them. I love reading David K's articles. They are funny!!! None of you, have half the creative writting skills that he does.So please write something and submit it for those of us who enjoy David K. And prove me wrong.

And for you WC, perhaps you should take some lessons from a Karlsruher, and learn how to laugh! Its not good to be angry and bitter all of the time. Bad for your health!!!

Now now, Dave…play nice. Why resort to red faced name calling? If you won’t listen to me, will you at least listen to Warren Buffett? Is he “industrious” enough for you?

Stocks may fall, but execs' pay doesn't
USA TODAY
Warren Buffett says it's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked.
_________________
Or would you like a more conservative opinion such as the Wall Street Journal?
_________________
Persistent Pay Gains: A Survey Overview
Rising Pay and Unintended Consequences
Wall Street Journal
Chief executives hit the pay jackpot last year -- despite signs of a looming economic slowdown.
The mixed picture emerges from the latest CEO compensation survey by Hay Group for The Wall Street Journal. The median salary and bonus for the nation's No. 1 bosses rose 4.7% to $2,939,000, according to its proxy analysis of 200 U.S. major corporations with annual revenue over $5 billion.
_________________

Do you mean to tell people that a CEO should be making that ridiculous amount of money AND getting fat bonuses all the while their company is in economic despair? Are you telling El Pasoans that you are in favor of ENRON in El Paso? That these companies should be left alone because to correct the problem is border line Marxist? So, by your philosophy it is better for the middle class to struggle and lose their jobs than for a wealthy person to pay a little more? Well I think there is something fundamentally wrong with your way of thought! Especially when the everyday American is struggling to pay for gas to simply get to work! Though I highly disagree with Reaganomics, I have to admit Reagan was smart. In his spirit, hard working Americans should again have to ask, Are we better off with another Republican Presidency? Are we better off than we were before the 2000 election? I think not. Nevertheless, at least you show your colors.

I think we should bail some of these companies out because not to do so would hurt the middle class. But I also believe in FAIR regulation. Just as the people should watch our government, the people should be allowed to watch and protect their investments!

I also believe that when a company does well for the community and overall economy it should be rewarded. I am glad the El Paso City Council will be working with Paul L Foster’s vision for redevelopment in much needed areas.

Having "The Strelz" on your side doesn't help much. I believe he actually invented self-indulgent egotistical diahrrea of the mouth rants. Look it up in Wickipedia lol

David K.,
Hi. What I’m about to say, you most likely won’t want to read. I would appreciate, however, an understanding that it was not my intent to insult, but only to express my thoughts. The name-calling and ad hominem attacks I’ve seen perpetrated in other comment responses should be left where they belong: the playground. Your piece may have tried to have a humorous connotation to it, but the subject matter is incredibly serious. In that regard, I’d appreciate it if you and the rest of the commentators took the time to respond like intelligent adults.

Now, maybe you weren’t trying to make a vast political statement about the efficacy of a government bail-out, and you were just trying to poke fun at an unmitigated economic disaster so as to seem “witty” and “edgy” among your peers. Maybe not. But whatever your goal here was, you failed. As an English major mere months away from receiving his teacher’s certification, I’m probably a little more qualified than most of your readers to say this: As a journalistic piece, this article comes across as nothing more than failed satire. I can see what you were trying to do, but pardon me when I say that you’re no Jonathan Swift when it comes to “open letters” (and to all the morons who always find it fit to see a sentence like that and immediately clamor “Oh yeah??? If you think you can do better, YOU write an article and get it published!!!” well, this is a public forum. That means that as soon as I submit this, it can be read and critiqued by anyone in the world). Your approach was a nice attempt, but your overly sardonic tone and overall presentation fails to really drive the point home. This letter reads more like a lengthy whine than a satirical piece. Frankly, the biggest thing I took away from this article was the thought that “Why the hell would I take socio-economical advice from a guy so obviously did a piss-poor job of managing his own finances?” Again, try not to be insulted, David K., but this is how your writing stands up in the face of literary criticism. I haven’t read any of your other works, so I won’t comment on your writing abilities as a whole, but I’m just saying that this particular piece was severely flawed.

As for your knowledge on the subject of real-world economics, I find you to be alarmingly ignorant on the topic to be writing an opinion piece on it for a newspaper such as this. It’s obvious that you object to the bail-outs, and I’m sure you have your reasons, but one doesn’t have to be a genius to see the positive effects this move brought with it. Many people obviously don’t understand just how desperate the situation was that week, or else they wouldn’t be sitting on their behinds, typing ineffective humor pieces on how the government should pay for their stupid life choices. A lot of people, yourself included, David, seem to have overlooked what these companies failing would to the economy of not just us but to the entire world, and instead focused on whether it was “fair” or “right” for taxpayers to pay for the move, and other such ideological malarkey meant to distract everyone from the real problems at hand. In one of your responses, you called this a “‘crisis’,” clearly not believing that the situation fell into that category. I’m sorry, but that only highlights your ignorance. The fact of the matter is that this move more likely than not saved the market from a series of events that would have led us straight into one of the worst economic depressions this country has ever seen, which would in turn would have dragged much of the entire world’s economy down with it, which you’d know if you had any kind of economic foresight beyond how much change you have in your pockets.

Looking at the comments, I’d say I have to agree more with Getsemani about your rant regarding the upper class paying more in taxes. What’s wrong with that? That seems to me to be a basic tenet of economic success: Have those with little pay little, and have those with more pay more. That may not seem “fair” to you, but it is part of having a balanced economy.
On a more personal note, my parents belong in the upper echelons of the middle class/lower levels of the upper class. I myself am by no means a part of this tax bracket, as it should be well-known in this country that teachers are among the most underpaid workers in society. I grew up, however, in a well-off family. Sure, we didn’t have our own charter jet, and we never lived in a mansion, but I was never wanting for either food or frivolous luxuries. That being said, myself and all of my family members will be voting for the candidate whose policies you claim would be “unfair” to the upper and middle classes, Barack Obama. He will increase the amount of money that people in my parent’s tax bracket will have to pay, and yet they’re still voting for him. Why, you ask? We are not foolish enough to limit ourselves to voting for one political party. None of us vote either straight Republican or straight Democrat. We vote on the issues at hand, and who we think the better candidate for the country will be, regardless of political party. So why vote for the guy who will take more money from us? Because his economic policies make the most sense. Under McCain’s policies, the budget deficit will continue to grow. The deficit will still grown under Obama, as well, but not as much as it would under McCain. If you think I’m wrong, do a little bit of research. A bigger deficit means a weaker dollar, and I for one would rather not have my money standard be in the toilet by the time I’m ready to think about having children – even if I have to pay a little more in taxes now to secure that future. This may not seem “fair” to you, but I only feel pity for those who focus on what is “fair” at the cost of what is “smart.”

Now, as I’m sure you’ve well noticed, David, there are mainly two types of people who come to comment on these articles.
The first group is the people whom I like to call “sheep.” These sheep follow whatever the article says, either because they are impressed that your words have appeared in a media publication, because their own political affiliations dictate that they agree, or for whatever. Humor, after all, is a good tool in attracting like-minded individuals.
The second group consists of people like Getsemani (I refer to him mainly because he seems to be the most outspoken of the group). These commentators are here usually for one of two reasons: 1) to convince the author of the piece of their own thoughts, or 2) to convince the other people who are agreeing with the author that the author is wrong.
These are the two main groups I’ve noticed who comment on these things, and I’ve found that is pretty much the truth no matter where you look.
The problem here is that no one really decides which group they’ll fall into while reading. They come here already knowing how they’re going to take the piece. You, David, already have a group of followers who will agree with you no matter what, as well as a group of people who will disagree with you. Going by what I just said, then, it would appear that both groups of commentators are rather pointless, because neither of them will be able to sway the other’s opinions.
Seeing it in that light, I feel even sorrier for the second group of people than I do for the sheep. The second group just doesn’t understand what kind of person you are, David. They think that if they offer up a logical set of points, then you’ll have to agree, and you’ll see “the error of your ways.” I realize that I happen to fall into this second group, but I hold no illusions of having what I’ve said change the opinions of anyone here. I am merely stating the facts according to logic, as I am the type that yearns to educate. That being said, I know your type. You –whether it be subconsciously or consciously—are having your ego stroked by all of this debating, and from the very fact that your opinion was published. You said it yourself: “[You] are not a journalist…[you] enjoy writing opinion pieces.” That’s fine, as you have the right to feel accomplished at having your name attached to a piece of public literature, but this feeling of accomplishment so often brings along with it a feeling that you are right, and that everyone who disagrees with you is wrong. After all, if they’re so smart, why is it you who has the newspaper article, and not them, right? That is why I feel sorry for the people trying to change your opinion…I know that they can’t. I would still appreciate it if you took the time to contemplate what was being said, however, instead of immediately going on the defensive by assuming one side is correct and the other is not.

I apologize for my verbosity, but I thank you for taking the time to read this. Again, I’d like to reiterate that my intent was not to insult, but to inform, and if you have any problems with anything I said, feel free to address them either publicly or privately, and I’ll do my best to get back to you.

Bryan C,

Thanks for the War and Peace-like comment that I did not read.

I wrote this OPINION piece in 15 minutes on a whim based very loosely on a couple of things I, or someone I know, have foolishly spent money on in the past. I tied in a current event and made a huge leap of imagination when I tied my dept problem in with the failings of a few major financial institutions. I was not actually asking for the government to write me a check based on my letter published in NPT.

I will recieve $25.00 American dollars for my 15 minutes of writing.

I will take that money and I will buy three (tres, 3) 12 packs of Keystone Light. A very poor investment in your eyes, I'm sure. A very good investment in my eyes, obviously.

Once I'm nice and drunk I'm going to pull up this page and laugh at all of you "Armchair Economists" who have zero idea of what you are talking about but a lot to say.

You see, if you did know something you'd be eligible to have your name at the top of the page preceded by the word "by." Instead you are relegated to the bottom of the page where you are allowed to say just about anything you want whether it's true, correct or otherwise useful - lucky you.

I do, however, appreciate you taking time out from writing letters to Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live berating him for not taking world events seriously enough to write me.

“That’s fine, as you have the right to feel accomplished at having your name attached to a piece of public literature, but this feeling of accomplishment so often brings along with it a feeling that you are right, and that everyone who disagrees with you is wrong. After all, if they’re so smart, why is it you who has the newspaper article, and not them, right?”

“You see, if you did know something you'd be eligible to have your name at the top of the page preceded by the word "by."”

I love it when smartasses prove me right.

I’m not offended by anything you said (though I apologize about the length of my previous post…I didn’t realize you’d be intimidated by big words), because not only did you just validate what I was saying, but you proved to everyone that you’re an ass. Maybe you’re fine with that. Whatever. Enjoy the beer!

Bryan C,

I was not offended by the "size" of the words, it was the "amount" of them.

"smartasses" should be hyphenated like "smart-asses " - It helps you move the emphasis to the ass part.

And yes, I'm an ass. That's my angle.

Great open letter David, and I sincerely hope newspapertree takes note of the large number of postings; we can see more from you in the future.

:)

Some of these folks are bitter and would not be welcomed here by the majority. Maybe by some of the ignoramuses who commented negatively? They have the same political ideology and are still in bitter denial relating to that political affiliation and the current economic shortcomings.

I cannot believe anyone would have the audacity to mention Regan and smarts; especially in regards to the economy or fiscal responsibility!?!

Yes, it's unfair. Everyone knows it's unfair, so stop whining about it. The ONLY QUESTION is, is it neccessary for your well-being as well as everyone else's? You sure wasted a lot of time writing if you weren't even going to address that question.

It's also unfair that I have to pay taxes to keep the police running. Why should I be penalized for the actions of criminals? But I don't whine about it, because the alternative is even worse.