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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 14, 2008

Ideological Masquerade

Regarding "Conservatives Feel Forsaken By Party, Not Defeated," Our Opinion, Nov.10:

The Republican Party has masqueraded as a conservative party since Ronald Reagan, the first of the big borrow-and-spend Republican presidents. The trend only reached its zenith under Bush the younger.

The deficits run under GOP presidents have increased the federal debt substantially. The last eight years, not including the $1.5 trillion spent on bailouts just the past couple quarters, have seen an increase in the federal debt in terms of percent of GDP to a 50-year high.

That's right; not since the U.S. was working to dig itself out of the massive total war economy of WWII have we had such enormous debt. The trend was down through the Carter years, then climbed steeply through Reagan and Bush. The trend went down again under Clinton, and then skyrocketed under the current President Bush, until now it represents 69 percent of GDP, or more than $10 trillion.

This is a 30-year trend of GOP mismanagement of the budget and the economy.

We need to begin to understand that the federal debt is a massive transfer of wealth - from our children and their children to us, and from the U.S. to the Chinese and others.

The best steward of conservative economic policies in the past 30 years was Bill Clinton.

JERRY NEPON-SIXT

Tampa

Respect For Columnists

I was saddened to learn that the Tribune has axed the Sanctimonious Scribbler of Supercilious Schadenfreude from its staff. First it was the caring Judy Hill who was dismissed after she had warmed the cockles of our hearts with her tender columns for so many years.

Next to be canned was the fair-minded Joe Brown, who demonstrated impartiality when penning his race-related columns over the years, and now we must lose the musings of the Verbose Vicar of Vituperative Verbiage?

Who but the Mouthy Maven of Mirthful Manuscripts can deservedly deride the Glazer Clan for their avariciousness? Who but the Palavering Pundit of Pompous Prattle can further belittle the Greedy Glazers with his ubiquitous ravings about "Hello Sucker" and "Jesse James Stadium"?

EDWARD PRANGE

Tampa

Going Greener

I'd like to commend the Tampa City Council for their standup vote requiring TECO to be greener.

Regardless of how it turns out with the legal issue, they have taken a stand to force utilities to take responsibility for helping to end our dependence on foreign oil. If electric utilities across the country started leasing solar-panel technology to customers and took back into the grid the excess power produced, fuel would be saved.

Customers would be credited the difference and have an incentive to conserve.

LAWSON STEVENSON

Bartow

Candidates Were Bullies

School and Internet bullying is at an all-time high. It causes suicides, self-hatred, and damage to children that they might never outgrow or overcome. Where are the bullies learning this behavior? Mostly at home, unfortunately.

But an equally damaging source was the recent campaign ads that bombarded them at every commercial break.

Politicians, I implore you to take a look at your campaign and ask yourself if you want someone else's child to verbally attack your children in the same manner that you went after your opponent.

VICKI O'GRADY

Maitland

What Do Pols Drive?

With Pelosi and Reid and the present Democratic Congress wanting to give the "Big Three" auto manufacturers another $25 billion, it would be interesting to know what kind of automobiles they drive.

RICH PEARSON

Weeki Wachee

Explore Ballot Mystery

Regarding "Untallied Absentee Ballots Turn Up" (front page, Nov. 13):

You're kidding us, right? They found 850 absentee ballots gathering dust in a vault at the supervisor of elections office? And Buddy Johnson's $150,000 per year chief of excuse making... er, staff, claims it really wasn't a mistake at all, that they meant for those ballots to counted late, after the totals had been announced and sent to the state to be certified?

What is this, Candid Camera? Can the citizens of Hillsborough County expect Alan Funt to jump out any minute now?

So it's time for the state to cordon off Buddy Johnson's premises and do a sweep for ballots - in desk drawers, file cabinets, and glove compartments, seek them out. And then proceed with the obviously overdue investigation.

MARCELLA O'STEEN

Balm

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