Fact is, we all share blame
for nation’s predicament
With the U.S. debt crisis “settlement” only a week old, everybody is pointing fingers at those to blame. (A wise man once said, pointing a finger at someone, means three pointing back at you.)
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) blamed the Tea Party. Fact is more than half of U.S. House members elected with Tea Party help voted in favor of the debt limit increase. Hummm?
Salisbury’s own Mr. Steinberg declared that GOP members acted like spoiled children. Fact is there are more “spoiled children” in Washington than just Republicans. Hummm?
Some are blaming President Bush. Seems to me that Mr. Obama has been president for nearly three years with no debt control to date. Let’s blame Harry Truman! Hummm?
President Obama came on TV telling us the mean old S&P was irresponsible for downgrading U.S. bond risk. Fact is, Mr. President, America needs a recovery plan from you (demonstrating sound fiscal adjustments not just more borrow-and-spend) instead of more finger-pointing rhetoric. Hummm?
Fact is we are all to blame! Hummm? Yes, each and everyone of us. We got ourselves into this mess with a poor borrow-and-spend financial attitudes at all levels — personal budgets, state budgets and federal budgets.
You say, “Not me, it’s those other folks (Wall Street, Congress, bankers and the like).” I say, think. You elected those in Washington. Oh, you did not vote. Hummm? Oh, you did vote but your candidate did not win (I know all about that). Did you donate money to his/her campaign? Did you get others to vote for him/her? No. Hummm? Maybe, just maybe, there is a problem here. Congress’ approval rating stands at 14 percent, but we just keep sending the same old war horses, er, spoiled children up there to make laws. Hummm?
— Ty Cobb Jr.
Salisbury
Little relief at the pump
Come on, oil companies and service station owners. We are below $80 a barrel for oil; based on that, gas should be getting down to about $2.59 a gallon. Glory to God!
— Joseph N. Spry
Faith
Haves and have-nots
I found the Aug. 7 front page of the Salisbury Post to be very interesting. And it has a lot to do with the “have and have-nots” of society. For the most part, it a white man’s world. Ever since the stock market was created in Holland, refined in England and perfected in New York, the world of finances has been driven by the Protestant work ethic. And then in America, foreigners were imported to help create bigger and better businesses and wealth.
From my experiences in the New York, Chicago and Salisbury inner-city black communities, I have found that we need to funnel some finances for opportunities through the white establishment banks. Otherwise, the have-nots will eventually revolt or die. You can only mollify the poor for so long with federal or state welfare.
As a homeless person with a purpose, I believe certain people in the know in North Carolina should start learning the needs of the poor black community. These people in Salisbury live in houses with inadequate amenities, as I formerly did in New Jersey. Something must be done to get the wealthy off their information-age toys and share with the poor those assets that can buy the important necessities of life.
— Michael Kondek
Salisbury