Letters to the Editor

Bush needs more than good intentions to help economy
We have all grown up being told that money does not grow on trees. Apparently George W. Bush did not get the memo. The president outlined his plan for the nation Jan. 28 by throwing around terms like patriotism, tax cuts and God. The purpose of the speech was to try to instill confidence in an American public that is having trouble finding the silver lining to an administration that is quickly running out of time and excuses.

Our president desires a general downsizing in government that is typical for Republicans. The problem is that he has done nothing to fulfill that desire. Not only has government not downsized, but Bush has actually increased the size of our government. He has already created an entire department (the Homeland Security Department). He is orchestrating the beginning stages of a war that is predicted to cost $80 billion dollars a year.

As the main point of his stimulus plan, Bush desires to make his recent tax cuts permanent.

By buying into President Bush’s plan, our country will be putting itself into an uncomfortable place where we may soon find ourselves stuck. I believe that our president’s intentions are good, but his methods are poor at best. Our economy is not improving as our commander in chief would like us to believe. We have seen no proof of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq while another member of the “Axis of Evil” blatantly defies us with no apparent recourse. Yet we push on toward war.

In 2003, I do not find myself blindly trusting our leaders. Instead, listen to the voices who are crying out for change. We have been down this path before and it has brought nothing but pain to Americans, our friends and our enemies.

— Ryan Salzman, senior political science major

Organizations should be more clear with motives
I agree completely with Eric Czarnik’s, “Ad wrongly accuses SUVs” (Jan. 24) but I would like to take his point further. The Detroit Project, an environmental group headed by Arianna Huffington, targets SUVs, but the U.S. government has also joined the game by targeting drugs. Both groups have the same goal in mind — they are trying to tell Americans that we are aiding terrorist funds by using a lot of gas or by purchasing drugs whose profit goes to terrorist groups.

The commercials accusing SUVs are starting to become irritating. I suppose the media thinks so as well, because I haven’t seen the commercials run recently. But I suppose the fact that we live in Texas, the land of the SUV, could have something to do with it. My family alone could take out the United States single-handedly, considering we all drive trucks, jeeps and Suburbans.

Next, we have the drug commercials. The United States tells us drug money goes to terrorism. Shouldn’t the government be telling us not to buy drugs because they are bad and cause bodily harm?

And by using something such as Sept. 11 to play on our sympathies, the government goes too far.

Both the Detroit Project and the U.S. government need to say what’s really on their minds. The Detroit Project wants a cleaner environment. The government wants us to stop destroying our bodies. For these two groups, it’s not about terrorism. Both organizations are using the threat of terrorism to their advantage. Why is it up to society to stop terror when the government or car dealers could also try and do something different? When will these groups, along with others that follow their lead, stop hiding behind this surreal mask and tell the public exactly what it wants without trying to play us for fools?

— Jay Davis, sophomore criminal justice major