Republicans couldn’t care less about democracy Re: “Obama-style democracy: Bureaucrats know best,” Editorial, Sept. 29
This editorial is a perfect storm of obfuscation, deceit and the transference of motives and fact. Former White House budget director Peter Orszag and Gov. Bev Perdue, D-N.C., may pontificate on tweaking the democratic process to break today’s legislative gridlock. But it pales in comparison to the GOP’s iron gauntlet which, under the Orwellian guise of preventing voter fraud, defunded ACORN — a group that registered 500,000 voters in 2008.
Is not one man, one vote the essence of democracy?
Carefully omitted was the fact that the GOP created the gridlock to free their erstwhile corporate masters from Environmental Protection Agency laws and secure them tax cuts by holding the nation’s debt limit hostage. This is typical for Republicans, who write laws funded by the Koch brothers that delegitimize those who disagree, i.e., unions and ACORN.
Meanwhile, the GOP is pushing “personhood” amendments that will effectively criminalize abortion and perhaps ban contraceptive devices as well. Republicans care little for the democratic process or individual rights. They are preoccupied with creating a robber baron-like environment for corporations and nationalizing their version of Christianity.
Ray Riley
Forestville, Md.
Social Security is indeed a Ponzi scheme
Re: “Social Security is not a Ponzi Scheme,” From Readers, Sept. 27
Darrell Salisbury argues that Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme because Ponzi schemes originate with the criminal’s intent to enrich himself. But Salisbury’s claim that Social Security does not enrich politicians is simply laughable.
Social Security enables politicians to steal our money in order to bribe people to vote for them. This process is immoral, destructive, and unsustainable. This ever-expanding “handouts for votes” Ponzi scheme will collapse — along with our entire society — when the number of taxpayers paying into it is insufficient to support the number of recipients.
We are rapidly approaching that tipping point, if we have not crossed it already.
James Perry
Arlington
Fort Belvoir makes it hard to use mass transit
Re: “Traffic snarled by BRAC relocations,” Sept. 26
If one objective of Fort Belvoir’s base transportation office is to get people out of their autos and into public transportation, then why are they making it as difficult as possible for us to do so? Recent changes to the REX bus stops (forced by the base and not under Metro’s control) and the base shuttle have almost ensured that I will use my car instead of taking the bus.
Fort Belvoir just re-routed the bus I take to the post’s far south side, which almost doubles my walk from the bus stop to my office. There is a base shuttle, but it only runs mornings and evenings — and stops running 20 minutes before I get in.
When the base set up the shuttle, they did so with little notice and without inquiring as to how people would actually use it. Fort Belvoir needs to start paying attention to how people commute, advertise changes at least a week in advance, and stop assuming that we can alter our work schedules for the base’s convenience.
Paul Blase
Alexandria
