Editor, Times-Union: To the President of the United States of America, George W. Bush.
Mr. President: Would you please explain to me who the people are that will be helped by any stimulus package? No way can it be the American worker.
Have you honestly gone shopping lately and bought American dress shirts, you know, names like Arrow, Van-Heusen and others. They were rather expensive for the working class but we kept our American textile workers busy. NOT ANY MORE, but it keeps foreign slave labor alive.
Trousers - Have you found any American-made trousers lately? Ninety percent of the trousers sold in this country are made in factories overseas using CHEAP labor. The price of the product sold in our stores doesn't reflect the cheap labor cost.
Jackets - We have flooded the American markets with foreign-made jackets and put the American workers out of business and on the bread line. You try to buy an American-made leather coat.
Shoes - Where are they made? China, Italy, Spain and so on. We really don't care about the American worker, do we?
Tools - Good American long-lasting tools made by American workers, you can count the companies on one hand. Eighty percent of all tools are made overseas with cheap labor who make cheap non-lasting tools.
Appliances - Go shopping and find out how many American workers have been put out of work.
Vegetables - Have you gone shopping lately for American-grown, FDA-controlled vegetables, or don't you care about all the foreign non-FDA approved food sold in this country undermining the American FARMER.
Bicycles - Remember when Huffy had all those American workers? Wal-Mart is selling Huffy 20-inch bicycles made in China and Mexico for $38 each.
Sure is stimulating, isn't it?
Associated Press, Jan. 13, 2002: Textile industries: In the last decade, 760,000 workers no longer produce clothing. One hundred mills are out of business.
Since we don't care about the future of our workers by letting all this product come into this country almost duty-free, a real stimulus package would be to apply heavy tariffs to all products coming into this country. That would keep the factories in this country and provide a lot of money for all those government programs.
Mexico: Why don't we make Mexico our 51st state? Boy, that would solve all kinds of problems. The Mexican citizen would have better wages and could get rid of the bad rich officials who run that poor country. As a state, they would have unemployment compensation, Medicare, schooling and the ability to bring themselves up out of poverty and be part of the greatest nation on this Earth.
Repeal the NAFTA Act - It is destroying this great nation.
Please, Mr. President, stop this decay of the American way of life. Take care of our God and country, then we can give to the rest of the world the ability to do the same in their own countries for their own people, not us.
Jack W. Klinefelter Sr. Warsaw
Ice Storm Helpers
Editor, Times-Union: Jan. 31, who can forget the ice storm and the havoc it created. I was alone as my husband had gone to Chicago at 5 a.m. When the electricity went off at 6:30 a.m., I checked our sump pump downstairs next to our family room and found water overflowing the well and pouring into the family room. I bailed out as much as I could (useless), ran over to Grace Village and phoned Winona Lake Fire Department, told them I needed help, a gentleman soon came, saw the situation, left, said he would try to get help, which might be a while as everyone was out busy.
Not too long later, some young men from Grace College (maintenance, I believe) came with a generator and soon were pumping the water out, which by then was about 2 inches in my carpet. Then the electric came on and they used our wet vac to take up some of the water. Before they left, I thanked them for saving my house.
I don't know their names, but to me, they sure looked like angels. Thank you, thank you, guys. What a great bunch you are. I'm afraid I didn't make too much sense at the time, being so frustrated watching all that water pouring in.
Thanks again and God bless each one of you.
Nita Brickel Winona Lake
Dads For Kids
Editor, Times-Union: Our courts have been sexually discriminating. Almost half of all divorced parents are affected by this discrimination.
In civil court all you have to do is tip the scale. In criminal court you have to show beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty.
But in divorce court, our courts have decided in advance that one gender is superior. Is this the best choice to make for our children? In this court father has to prove mother is an unfit parent. Why so biased especially when it comes to the well being of our children? Our court records show this unbelievable bias almost, if not, every day. Do they think there are no good fathers in the world? I think for the benefit of our children something must be done to rectify this injustice.
Even our law enforcement feels the same. Did you know if a couple separates and dad takes the children she can file kidnapping charges against him, but if mother takes them dad can file no charges? Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of great mothers out there. But there are a lot of great dads, too. I feel if the system would change, giving both parents an equal chance at attaining custody, it would be a better situation for the children. What do you think? Do you think this might decrease the number of divorces? With neither part sure of who would get custody and child support? I think it would.
If you would like to help fight this fight, or if you have comments, please contact me at www.dads.for-kids.com
In closing let me remind you all I want is the best for our children.
Jeff Shaw Marion via e-mail
Flags
Editor, Times-Union: Congratulations to everyone involved in getting the flags put up in Warsaw.
The saying, "The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little bit longer," should not be attributed to the U.S. Marine Corps but to the U.S. Navy's Seabees.
Allen D. Regenos Claypool
Susan B. Anthony
Editor, Times-Union: I would like to wish Susan B. Anthony a happy birthday on February 15, 2002. That day commemorates the 182nd anniversary of her birthday.
Most people recognize the name Susan B. Anthony as that of the great women's rights campaigner. Susan B. Anthony was indeed instrumental in helping women achieve the right to vote in 1920. Susan B. Anthony believed that all people should be treated equally and she made no exception for the unborn.
Susan B. Anthony believed that unborn children had the right to life and she referred to abortion as "child murder" in her newspaper, The Revolution. Anthony wanted to "eradicate the most monstrous crime" but knew a law would not suffice. "We must reach the root of the evil and destroy it." She wrote about this evil with enormous passion: "Guilty? Yes, no matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; but oh! Thrice guilty is he who, for selfish gratification, heedless of her prayers, indifferent to her fate, drove her to the desperation which impels her to the crime." It is often unreported in history that Anthony held such strong pro-life views.
That is why I'm writing to you today in honor of her birthday. I want everyone to know that Susan B. Anthony was not just a champion for women, but also a champion for the unborn.
