My Letter to Newsday

Dear Newsday,
I am a 28 year subscriber to Newsday.
I have had many letters published and seen one of my "Expressway" op eds appear in the paper.
I was part of the 1969 remembrance issues and was proud to see my ugly puss in the paper talking about the Amazins of '69.
That is what makes the following so hard to say and do.
I HEREBY CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION TO NEWSDAY!
I would never tell others who to support or vote for but I expect the same in return.  I cannot support Willard Mitt Romney or anyone in the party that ruined America for the middle class and threatens to take us back to the dark ages before science proved awful things such as evolution and global warming - Not just climate change!
Anyone sitting in the dark after yet another record breaking storm waiting for FEMA to help get their ives back knows what a disaster Romney's 'privatize FEMA' stance will be should he get control of our government.
My current salary is half what I was earning before the Bush debacle ruined the World economy and must be frugal with what I have left.
So for this and many other reasons I cannot support the Republican Party of 'NO' and refuse to spend money on a subscription knowing that some of that money is going toward his campaign.
I will miss Newsday but I would miss my freedom more.
Sincerely,

I cannot understand how the Republican candidate is within 30 points of a real, caring President but then many in the country are deluded and terrible misinformed.  The man's policies will take us back to the awful days of the Bush era.

You remember that time, right?  The time when corporations were allowed to run rampant and ruin the world?

But the ill-informed people who sit in front of their televisions or listen to the radio and only hear Fox or Rush are one thing.  How can a supposedly well-informed newspaper be so ffoled as to believe any of Mitt's lies?

And that is why I can no longer read that rag.  I never called it that before but they have shown me the error of my ways.

I'm done with them and I hope all caring intelligent people will join me in dropping them.

A Modest Proposal

Peter Goldmark of Newsday is a former budget director of NYS & former publisher of the International Herald Tribune. He headed the climate program at the Environmental Defense Fund.

On August 19th and repeated in today's Sunday Newsday he wrote an OpEd putting forth a few "modest" ideas to straighten out the country.

He invited readers to send in their thoughts via email and he promised to read and respond to all.

That might be a tall order given the amount of angst in New York, let alone America.

I guess it's not a surprise that I offered my opinion, naturally, in the hopes that someone, somehow, somewhere will start to listen to those of who make less than a few million dollars a month!

Hi Peter,

Thanks for offering to listen to those who read & listen to you.

I almost do not know where to begin – Almost.

First and foremost we must restore confidence in America and self esteem in Americans. And when I say Americans I am speaking of the vast but dwindling middle class.

You are absolutely correct on all your points and I wish to add a couple of finer points to the list.

I realize there is no single project, no silver bullet to kill all that ails us as a country but one area that is definitely a win-win is infrastructure repair.

The nation’s bridges and roads are deteriorating at an embarrassing rate and putting people to work repairing them is a no-brainer. Sadly many of the politicians on one side of the aisle ARE no-brainers as they refuse to allow any movement that could be seen as a plus for the President.

If we do get to move on infrastructure I wish to add a new project to the mix:

When we built our National Highway System it became a model for the rest of the world to point to. We should use our ingenuity to now plan and build a similar system, not for vehicles but for water.

How often do we see terrible flooding in one part of the country while others are literally praying for rain? (I couldn’t resist a little dig at Mr. Rick Perry.)

This National Water Main system would funnel water away from flood ravaged areas and send it to places in dire need of the precious liquid.

The project would create jobs for tens of thousands and ongoing careers maintaining the structures for ages to come.

And it could even have the extra added benefit of producing hydro-electric energy as the water is moved around the country.

As for so-called entitlements I guess reform is absolutely necessary but certainly not as necessary as tax reform.

The wealthy who have contributed much to the problem in America and very little to the solution should look to Mr. Warren Buffet, no slouch he when it comes to money. We should agree with him as he asks why he is paying so little toward his fair share of tax revenue.

Incentives for state and local governments are nice and should always be looked into. But how do we ask the local municipalities to do that which the nation refuses to do?

But many years ago and for five consecutive years I was the President of the Home Fashion Products Assn. During one of my many speeches in the 1990s I warned that our nation was headed for terrible times as we continue to send jobs overseas.

I warned that we would become a third world nation unless DC started to place tariffs on products manufactured by cheap foreign labor.

I also admitted that we could not blame any CEO for trading highly paid and skilled workers in America for ‘who cares, they’re cheap’ labor in Asia since if they did not do so while their competitors did their businesses would fail.

My laundry list is much longer than I note here but I must stop somewhere.

But unless and until I see a willingness in Congress to tackle ANY of our problems I fear we will be airing our dirty laundry in public for many years to come.

Cordially,

I don't expect to get an actual reply from Mr. Goldmark but I wouldn't mind hearing from any of you.  Am I off the mark or am I striking Gold?

If he replies I'll post it here.

In & Around the News

Synopsis of news articles from Newsday that should make all of us a bit upset:

1. The Lighthouse Project is still on hold with no credible reason from the greedy group of Hempstead leaders. Now other groups are offering to develop the deteriorating site and some do not include the Islanders as tenants.

Solution - Wang should quietly offer Kate Murray's father a lifetime job and get this project moving.


2. The 911 trials will be taking place in NY. The 5 disgusting pieces of shit on trial will be pleading not guilty. Whether or not this should be the venue for the trial is now moot. But critics complain that it will merely be a platform for hateful rhetoric!

Translation - The trial will sound eerily like a session in Congress! (or on Fox so-called News.)


3. Catholic Bishop doesn't want Rep. Patrick Kennedy to receive communion due to his support of the current law of the land, namely abortion rights. We always knew the Catholic church, like many other religious groups didn't treat women with the equal dignity they deserve as human beings however -

Opinion - WHO GIVES A DAMN? Hey guys, ever hear of separation of church and state? This should not be news outside of the church journal. (Mr. Kennedy will make a donation and receive communion with honors.)


4. Former Hempstead Village Community Development Agency head Glen Spiritis has sued and according to the lower court is due to receive almost ONE MILLION dollars in payment for: 500 sick, personal and vacation days accrued as well as other smaller items. THIS MAN SHOULD BE PAID FOR 500 SICK DAYS??? Who paid for his health care? If this man was really sick that often how did he keep his job and how could he have done his job?

Opinion - He wasn't as sick as the system appears to be! I was laid off because of financial games played by scum like him and received ZERO DOLLARS for my accumulated sick and vacation days. Hey Newsday - Call me and we'll talk.


5. In the midst of a phony debate over health care reform that is meant to deflect Americans from the facts that Congress cannot and will not do anything new guidelines emerged from the medical community. Women should not get screened as often as they do for such non male life threatening diseases as Breast or Cervical cancer.

Opinion - This is the best our leaders can do - their solution to lowering health care costs is to stop giving health care?!? Brilliant!


6. Finally, late last week a computer glitch caused severe airline delays across the country. Officials were quick to point out that airborne flights were not in danger but take-offs and landings would have to be carefully monitored and delayed as the problem was on the ground. First of all airborne flights do generally have to land, right? And when they land they are hopefully landing ON LAND, right? I guess the implications of these facts were ignored. Could terrorists have caused this as a prelude to shutting down our entire system. Hopefully and probably not but -

Newsday's headline and entire front page on that day was devoted to OPRAH who announced a much more pressing issue - she was going to end her TV program IN 2 YEARS!!! Oh, by the way, Newsday covered the computer glitch on page 26!