Editor, Times-Union: The last time I wrote about our coming election was a few months and 17 candidates ago, and since then the field has narrowed substantially. Now I believe it is time to get down and dirty and think about where we were eight years ago, where we are now and where we want to go. Eight years ago we were fighting in Iraq and the tables were turning so we were seeing a change in the lives of the people in the Mideast and it looked promising for the future. As a country we were 9 trillion in debt and our economy was stalling and jobs along with houses were leaving their previous owners at a rapid pace. At that time we also had around 14 million people on food stamps and government subsidies with a 5 percent unemployment rate. Today we are 19 trillion in debt with around 45 million people depending on the government to survive because those jobs never came back and our unemployment rate is around 5 percent with the millions of people that no longer qualify to register for unemployment so they just gave up on looking for employment. Today the Mideast is a mess. Not only has Iraq fallen back into the hands of the evil enemy, so has Libya, Syria and many areas in that part of the world. Now we are sending troops back to Iraq to clean up the cancer our current president and the person that was our ambassador at the time we pulled out said was dead and buried. Folks, as a world we are in bad shape, the boat is sinking and we should all grab a bucket and bail the people out of here that tell us four more years of spending and promises should do the trick. Google the current situations in Sweden, Germany, France and even London, England, to see what these liberal policies have done to their countries. That is why God is telling us to change captains and boats and vote for a guy that will tell them all to go to where Jesus told his doubters to go, “behind him.” Now, are you going to ask God why he did not help us … only to have him say, “I sent you Mitt, and you said no ... and then I sent the Trump helicopter and still you waited for me to save you, until you all drown, and now you are here asking me where was I?” God helps us through the people that share our world. If you want to see God, look around, and don’t expect him to pity you and pamper you through constant handouts because he helps those that get up and help themselves, and the ones that don’t do, should do without. Sorry, Kyle, I’m voting for the Donald. I will not say I wish I had done something and didn’t. Michael Alspaugh Warsaw, via email
