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Dear Mr. Henry:
This evening, the subject is national security. I have something I would like to share about my feelings of national security:
Ohio, the state in which I live, is in worse
financial shape than nearly every other state in
the union. Ohio has been under legislative control
of the Republican party for three solid decades.
The condition of the infrastructure of Ohio has gone from an
abrasion to full-blown hemorrhaging. It’s as if
Ohio has an advanced case of ebola virus, bleeding
from every orifice.
Ohio suffered through two administrations of Robert
Taft, the political and mental equivalent of George
W. Bush. Bush pushed for tax reductions for the
most wealthy Americans, so Taft did the same for
wealthy Ohioans.
Fortified by Republican majorities in both of the
legislative branches, the Houses of Representatives
and Senates of both the US’s Congress and Ohio’s
legislature, the tax cuts were passed and written
into law.
To compensate for the reduction in tax revenues,
which is the source of funding projects like road
construction (including petroleum-based asphalt),
bridge repairs, funding for education (including
fuel for vehicles and natural gas for heating),
funding for law enforcement (including fuel for
vehicles), funding for US and Ohio Departments of
Transportation (including fuel for vehicles), the
cost of licentures and services were increased by
75-90 percent.
When George Bush and Dick Cheney decided to go to
war, funding for all federal government offices and
services was severly cut. Federal jobs were cut.
Federal block grants to the states were cut,
including grants for local, state and federal law enforcement, fire and
rescue, education, construction, health and
welfare, health-care and benefits for all the armed
services and their veterans, Medicare/Medicaid,
Social Security, Homeland Security, national
security. You name it, if it’s a service provided
by federal, state and local governments, federal
funding has been cut.
Our federal government is so deeply in debt that we’ve been
borrowing from other nations. China owns most of
that debt. Not only does China own most of our
national debt, but China received most of the
industrial jobs that Americans lost. Now, most of
the products that were made by Americans are being
imported from China and a number of other
countries. So, China is profitting from the loss of
American jobs.
Under Republican policies, not only has China, a
communist nation, beaten America at our own game of
capitalism, if America’s government does anything
to anger the Chinese government, they could cut off
our credit, cut off all trade with America,
militarily attack the US mainland, and we couldn’t
afford to defend ourselves. The Bush-Cheney administration has actually weakened national security and made us more vulnerable.
Since the majority of manufacturing jobs have been
shipped out of the country, and most of the
manufacturing facilites closed and sent the
machines used to manufacture the goods they
produced along with the jobs, the United States of
America cannot possibly rebound in a feasible
manner. Nowhere is this more true than in NE Ohio.
During this election season I want you to remember
something: America is in the
same financial shape as most American citizens
whose homes are being foreclosed upon, filing for
bankruptcies and way over their heads in credit
card debt.
Republicans have single-handedly destroyed Ohio’s and
America’s economies. Republicans have damaged the
reputation of America — worldwide — as a great and respected
nation. It will take decades, if not centuries, to
recover from what Republicans have damaged and/or
destroyed.
Mr. Henry, I thank you for giving me the chance to voice my opinion. I am releasing any and all portions of the above essay for your public use.
I enjoy your interviews with NE Ohioans. As for bias, it’s in the eyes of the beholders. Their own biases will dictate how they perceive yours. There is nothing you can do about that.
Kindest regards,
Randall W. Todd
Brunswick, OH
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