In historical context

Congress: Political theater

I am sure glad the IRS issue came up. Otherwise, with Congress restricted to only having five committees investigating Benghazi, the representatives left out may actually have gotten some work done. Wouldn't that be a shock to their system?

Four Americans were murdered in Benghazi. That is terrible, but it is over and done with. An independent committee has investigated it and found the Obama administration sadly lacking on several fronts. Presumably the recommendations have been taken to heart, and changes made. The end.

But no. Republicans wish to waste our tax money with endless hearings, where they carefully select the witnesses, to try to drag this out into the next election. Four thousand Americans were killed in Iraq and more than $3 trillion of our tax money wasted, in a war started on very questionably obtained and proven incorrect information. Why weren't all these concerned legislators calling for hearings then?

Comparing administrations

A May 6 letter to the paper extols George W. Bush as a man who truly loves his country, and then enumerates his admirable qualities and accomplishments. President Obama is described as a divisive figure who disrespects the military, someone who is leading America down the road to "destruction." It is a letter replete with right-wing talking points and a revisionist view of history.

The contention that Bush kept America safe from terrorism after 9/11 is a myth perpetuated by Fox News and talk radio. The D.C. sniper terrorist shootings, the shoe bomber and the anthrax attacks are a few of the numerous acts of terror during the Bush administration. There were also 11 embassy attacks during the Bush years, resulting in 50-plus fatalities.

Not Obama's sequester

It was the Republicans, not President Obama, who forced the budget crisis that helped create the across-the-board cuts, or sequester, in the first place. The Republicans provided the crucial votes for the 2011 deal that ended the impasse, triggering the $85 billion in automatic spending reductions in March 2013. The impasses arose from the Republican desire not to increase the debt limit without equal spending cuts. These spending cuts include a reduction in Meals on Wheels, Head Start cuts and airport cuts.

The Republicans took the extraordinary step of demanding big spending cuts as the price for permitting an otherwise routine increase in the government's debt ceiling, the borrowing authority needed to pay bills already incurred.

In the Senate, 28 Republicans voted for the sequester. In the House of Representatives, 174 Republicans voted for the sequester, including House Speaker John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan, who has called the sequester all the president's fault.

So before pointing fingers at the president for the cuts taking place all across the country, look squarely at the Republicans, as they had a big hand in the cuts called the sequester.

STEPHEN STOCKDALE

Taxes: The Republicans and Grover Norquist after 2012 Election

It’s like some people in the Republican Party are still not hearing the voices of the American voters. Grover Norquist seems to think that he can still hold Republicans to their pledge they made to him never to raise taxes. Was Grover on vacation or did he not listen to what President Obama’s campaign messages?

Republicans lost this election for president, they also did not win back control of the Senate and they lost ground in the House. It’s time for Republicans to start acting like grown-ups and do what’s right for America and the voters, not what special interest groups want and what party leaders tell them to do...READ MORE

Obama Wins! Can We Come Together Now, America?

It has been a long hard four years since Barack Obama became president. We’ve had a divided America but once again the voters have chosen Barack Obama to be our leader.

I hope now that people like Mitch McConnell, Jim DeMint and others will be more open to working with our president and not so intent on putting party goals ahead of what’s good for all Americans.

The Republican Party has to listen to all the American people, not just the older white people which I am a part of. Times are changing and no party can win by looking backwards and not planning for the future. Our president is young and understands what it takes to compete in the new global economy. President Obama knows about climate change and doesn’t put his head in the sand like some candidates did. Our president has two young children and wants a strong America for their future.

One of the best lines spoken in this election race was “We are all in this together.” READ MORE