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Bipartisanship leads to nowhere
(by Dave Lange - March 17, 2011)
Bipartisanship leads to nowhere
Dear County Line: I am terribly disappointed in my congressman, U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette, who has been bandying about some bipartisan baloney about his fellow Republicans being too tough on cutting certain federal programs in their genuine efforts to stop wasteful spending.
He needs to face the music that we taxpayers just cannot afford such luxuries as education and environmental protection, but we still have to make sure there's enough money for necessities like defense and special privileges for the oil industry.
Mr. LaTourette needs to toe the party line so that our country can get back on the right track.
-- John Bertch, Bainbridge
Dear John: I think you're being a little too hard on Mr. LaTourette, who has a long, reliable record of support for his party -- such as voting against earmarks but bringing home the pork anyway.
Why, just a couple weeks ago, he voted with the Republican majority to defeat a Democratic Party plot that would have stripped federal funding for the Gravina Island Bridge in Alaska. Thanks to Mr. LaTourette and his fellow conservatives, the federal government can spend $183 million this year to continue building what some naysayers have called the "bridge to nowhere."
Dear County Line: I am terribly disappointed with state Sen. Timothy Grendell, who has the nerve to question his own party's efforts to revoke collective-bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio.
Labor unions are the most sinister organizations that ever existed, coming up with such idiotic notions as minimum wages, 40-hour work weeks, paid vacations and health-care benefits. For the good of our country, we need to put the working stiffs back in their place, where they belong.
By disagreeing with our Republican governor and the Republican majorities in the Ohio Senate and Ohio House, who only want to put the blame for the recession on the middle class, where it belongs, Mr. Grendell proves that he doesn't deserve support from the tea party and other conservatives.
-- Sam Wallbanger, Chardon
Dear Sam: Actually, Mr. Grendell is concerned that passing a state law against collective bargaining could set a dangerous precedent that future liberal administrations could use against other contractual entities, whatever that means.
Meanwhile, I've been combing through my copy of the Constitution for something that gives the government the power to pass laws that prohibit citizens from organizing and negotiating, but I can't find anything like that. I did see something about the people's right to assemble and have their grievances redressed. Of course, people also have the right to rant about the Constitution without ever reading it.
Dear County Line: I think Gov. John Kasich is absolutely right about selling the Ohio Turnpike for big bucks to a private operator. We need the money, and we need it now, and who cares if they jack up the tolls?
-- Red Haring, Solon
Dear Red: I understand that privatization is supposed to be conservative, but I thought taking easy money and spending it fast was supposed to be liberal. The last time they raised the turnpike tolls, all the truckers got off and took the Route 422 freeway through Geauga County and Solon instead. I think the governor should privatize Route 422.
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