The nation’s economy: avoiding the ‘fiscal cliff’
No deal, no pay
Permit me to help our elected U.S. officials reach a budget deal before the end of the year. [“What may happen if we fall off of fiscal cliff,” page one, Dec. 22.]
I don’t know if it is possible but lets hope it is. The president uses the power of his office to issue an order that if a deal is not made by the end of the year, all pay and benefits for elected officials will cease and desist immediately. No paycheck, no pension check, no health care, no vacation.
Maybe then they can stop acting like 2-year-olds and do the job they are paid to do. Pay and benefits will resume six months after deal is made.
Bob Heaton, Seattle
What happened to moderation
As a former Republican (I now call myself a moderate independent), I don’t understand how my party lost its way. From the 1970s through the 1990s, we didn’t push religion so much. It is not the place of politicians to teach religious beliefs.
Our beliefs are rooted in capitalism, allowing anyone to win at the business game within the law. But as good business people, we should know that nothing get done without compromise.
We didn’t always think that being opposed to a war meant you were a traitor. We didn’t think that public schools were a waste of money (because our kids don’t go there anyway). And we, as Republicans, certainly did not believe it was OK to kill doctors who provide legal heath services to women.
We weren’t so obstinate, so arrogant, and just really hard to get along with.
The Democrats deserve some of the blame also, but the fact is this: We are not going to balance the budget next year, so we should try to just not increase the deficit any further. They should have locked them all up and not let them go home for the holidays until they had some way of avoiding the fiscal cliff. Our bond rating have already been downgraded; pretty soon our credit rating is going to rival Greece’s.
Brad Hurley, Seattle
This taxation thing isn’t new
Does anyone remember why Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem? It was to be taxed!
Does anyone remember what Jesus said about rendering to Caesar? He said pay your taxes!
Does anyone remember what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans? He said pay your taxes!
If anyone remembers (and believes) the source of the original story of Christmas, who cares what today’s “wise men” say about the “fiscal cliff”?
Tell them to give cheerfully like the Three Wise Men of old and shut up!
Jim Bruner, Oak Harbor
Advice for the GOP
In the past seven days we have been witness to the exposure of the insanity tea-party Republicans and the NRA.
The Republicans in the House have decided that despite the fact that taxes on 98 percent of taxpayers will go up after the first of the year, they will continue off of the fiscal cliff because of their fealty to the billionaires who pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into their unsuccessful attempt to buy the last election and because of a pledge they signed to an unelected individual named Grover Nordquist.
At the same time, after spending decades putting us in the insane state of affairs regarding guns in this country, the unrepentant head of the NRA has announced that the only way to protect ourselves from those weapons is for there to be armed security guards at every school (a perfect job for George Zimmerman).
To my many Republican friends: Please form a real, thinking Republican Party and leave the zealots to their guns and bunkers. It will be far more successful than the road you are presently on.
Steve Alberts, Vashon