Reader Responses

Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi say they came up with the plan to drill at home and explore all energy options. Everybody knows they did not think of it first, but we won't argue about who thought of it first. Let's just bring Congress back from vacation and start passing the legislation that will help our economy.

The ones who first promoted the idea of drilling in the United States and keeping U.S. dollars at home were John McCain and the Republicans. The Republicans were the first to say "Do all of the above," meaning drill at home, explore other sources of energy such as solar, wind, coal, and nuclear. The Democrats only wanted to control speculation and tax the oil companies. They were not serious about fixing the huge economic problem.

I also have some other advice for the presidential candidates. I'm talking about real change in Washington D.C. not just rhetoric.

First, eliminate "pork barrel spending," or tacking frivolous spending bills onto legitimate legislation. Recently the name of this practice was changed to "earmarking" because congressmen and senators did not like the insinuation they were hogs. John McCain has never taken any "pork" money for his district, but Barack Obama has taken plenty of it. John McCain should emphasize this point before Sen. Obama says he thought of it first.

John McCain wants to reduce taxes rather than increase them. Here is my suggestion: Downsize the federal government by cutting out whole departments. In the early years of our government we had four or five departments. Now we have at least 16 or 17. I know times have changed, but do we need the federal government telling us what to do in every area of our life?

We need to start thinking about what federal programs we can eliminate to cut expenses. The measures I am proposing would reduce taxes like nothing we have ever seen. Sen. McCain has some ideas that will reduce our tax burden. He needs to make a stronger case for his tax-cutting plans before Barack Obama says he thought of it first.

Mary Lou Bruner
Tyler