Letters to the Editor
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Be Careful What You Wish For
It wouldn't hurt Americans to stop spending money they don't have and get their debt under control. Whether forced through bankruptcy, foreclosure, or just normal market conditions like a reduction in credit extention, Americans need to stop buying so much junk anyway. How many lead-tainted plastic gizmos from The Dollar Store, WalMart, and others do we really need anyway?
I confess, I've been a Dollar Store junkie for years now. But even I've grown tired of the same-ole-same-ole-made-in-china-last-year's-stuff.
I'm going back to glass because I can't trust the Chinese OR the American inspectors to keep my food bowls free of lead. I won't even buy toys for friends' kids anymore for fear of giving them a disease or forcing the parents to throw them out.
I want a high-speed rail here in Ohio so I can stop driving the traffic-laden I71, 77, 70,etc. corridors where the trucks still lumber along like dinosaurs at 55mph, hogging the right and middle lanes, while the rest of us experience road rage in the left lanes.
We need a national energy policy that forces corporations to manufacture all hybrids, and get the bugs worked out on them, within 10 years - no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Reduce passenger vehicle gas consumption by 40%. It's a function of homeland defense, the environment, national security, economic security, increasing our disposable income, and stop killing and being killed for the oil.
Lastly, there are 3 required courses every high schooler should have to take before graduation regardless of what school they attend:
1) Citizenship: How democracy works; how laws are passed; and how stupid people get elected to office in the first place.
2) Economics For Dummies: what is capitalism really, where the jobs have gone and why, and how to start your own business.
3) The Power of Money: How to save, why we have to pay taxes, and never mind who's packing your parachute, what's your parachute worth on ebay by the time you're ready to retire.