Here are five issues that Democrats are concerned about:
• Economy – a comfortable living for the working class.
• Health care for all.
• Integrity in government.
• Respect for the United States around the globe.
• Peace, not war.
To understand our anger at President Bush, consider these:
• There was faulty and inaccurate intelligence leading up to the war against Iraq.
• There were no weapons of mass destruction.
• Saddam Hussein was not involved in the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks.
• Saddam did not threaten the United States and was not connected to Osama bin Laden or al-Qaida.
• The U.S. launched a preemptive (unprovoked) attack against a sovereign country.
• Our president alienated the U.N. and the majority of our allies and is perceived as an arrogant political leader.
• The costs of the war and re-building Iraq are astronomical and are not even included in a budget with a deficit of $500 billion.
• President Bush’s tax cuts will give $300 billion a year over the next 10 years to the wealthiest Americans.
• Vice President Cheney’s former company, Halliburton, and perhaps others, are guilty of overcharging the United States for costs of construction and food service to American troops.
• Defense Secretary Rumsfeld has held American citizens and hundreds of others at Guantanamo Bay. Those held there have not been charged with a crime and have no legal representation or contact with family or the outside world.
Ronald K. Melendy, Canton
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