Mind the disabled While my husband went into the store I stayed out in the car. I could see the handicapped parking spaces quite well. A van pulled into a handicapped space and had a valid sticker hanging from the window. Out bounced two young kids and their mother. No one appeared handicapped. A moment later a pickup pulled into another handicapped spot and a woman talking on a cell phone with one hand and smoking with the other jumped out of the truck and almost ran into the store. She too had a valid sticker. Meanwhile, a car with a wheelchair ramp on the back was driving round and round looking for an available handicapped spot. ...more

December 25, 2009

Don't let the far right continue to use fear tactics to take yet more from you and give more to the fat cats! ...more

January 16, 2009

This is not only a new year. It also is the birth of the Union of the Socialist States of America (USSA). Reminds one of the failed union of socialist Soviet Republics (USSR), doesn't it? No, I'm not referring to an association of American states, such as Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia. I have in mind what was once the economically responsible and stable, capitalistic, free-enterprise, United States of America. ...more

January 11, 2009

SUN CITY CENTER As John McCain released new tax proposals Tuesday to help retirees, the Barack Obama campaign held meetings across Florida bashing McCain as willing to "gamble" with Social Security. ...more

October 15, 2008

Plan Was For Youngsters Regarding "'What If' On Social Security" (Letters, Sept. 19): ...more

September 25, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Democrat Barack Obama criticized Republican presidential rival John McCain on Saturday for his past advocacy of deregulation, ties to lobbyists and support for privatizing the Social Security system many of the state's elderly residents depend on to make a living. ...more

September 20, 2008

Give Power To Individuals Regarding "Preserve Social Security" (Letters, Aug. 18): ...more

August 25, 2008

I'm afraid that I will have to decline Jim Gries' generous offer to sit in his rocking chair and explain Social Security to his 3-year-old granddaughter. And I'm amused that Mr. Gries does not consider it "fear-mongering" to call the Social Security system a "weapon of monetary destruction (WMD)." Actually, although he says that his earlier letter was a recital of fact, there is nothing in any of his letters that backs up his hysterical attack on the Social Security system. ...more

August 15, 2008

Jim Gries's letter about Social Security is unnecessary fear mongering. Social Security is simply an income transfer program. Workers today pay a tax to support retirees and disabled people. In exchange, workers get the promise that when they retire, a new generation of workers will support them. As Gries notes, the program has a substantial surplus. By law, that surplus is invested in bonds issued by the U.S. government. ...more

August 7, 2008

Every presidential campaign has its hitches. For John McCain, they felt more like full-blown lurches last week, with nearly every step forward quickly offset by a misstatement or wisecrack that seemed to blow his message off course. ...more

July 13, 2008