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Hernando Today

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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Hernando Today

Published: October 1, 2008

Updated: 10/01/2008 02:21 pm

Brown-Waite No

Friend Of Hernando County

Good old U.S. Rep. Ginny Waite-Brown, R-Brooksville, did a number on us again with her "nay" vote on the $700 billion bailout bill. She got it wrong and now the citizens, especially senior citizens, saw their pensions and 401k retirement funds sink and lose value. After the 777-point drop in Monday's Dow, we lost far more money than we can afford. I saw her speak on C-Span Monday and felt embarrassed for the citizens of our county.

If she uses the excuse that the Speaker of the House was partisan when speaking on the bill, I am sorry to say Ginny is a wimp if a few words deter her from doing good for the citizens. I'm tired of her excuses for why she is not doing her job representing our citizens.

I also remember her letter on the oil crises where she played the blame game when, in fact, she had numerous opportunities, along with her party, to take action to forestall these high oil prices long before the Democrats controlled the House. So what else is new? Excuses.

Our congresswoman does not care for our senior citizens. In fact, she is not for any of the citizens of this county. She voted against the extension of unemployment benefits when it was first proposed. As we all know, our county has one of the highest unemployment rates in Florida. She is out of touch with the citizens of this county. All she does is pander to us. She throws a few medals at us. Those medals are not paying for high gas and food prices that rob us of our Social Security benefits and retirement funds.

At least, it would be nice if Wal-Mart would give veterans a discount for wearing those medals while shopping there. Remember the wealthy Walton family supports the president. The Waltons should show their patriotism by honoring our veterans with special discounts at their stores.

I hope Brown-Waite wakes up and does something good for our county's citizens rather than performing her reckless service for us.

Fred Peters

Brooksville

Stop The Bleeding

Has anyone actually said that giving $700 billion to Wall Street brokerage firms will solve our current economic problems?

No. That's because it won't work. The economy is like a patient dying from a deep wound and the only way to save it is to stop the bleeding. What's bleeding is the housing market, more specifically, mortgages people can't pay.

The only part of capitalism that seems to be working right now is supply and demand. So let's work with the part of the system that is not broken. Perhaps someone in Washington would consider what I am suggesting here.

First: Freeze all adjustable rate mortgages. Cost to the taxpayers - nothing.

Second: For people who are in foreclosure because their interest rate adjusted up, roll the rate back to where they were actually able to make their payments. Cost to the taxpayers - nothing.

What Washington has forgotten to consider is that some money coming in is better than no money coming in. And with fewer homes empty, there is less supply. Less supply creates greater demand - Economics 101.

The patient is beginning to feel better. Some of the bleeding has stopped.

Now it's time for the federal government to hire a private industry manager (a Lee Iacocca type) to head up a new agency to oversee the rest of the process. Cost to the taxpayers - well worth it if he or she does their job right. That job will consist of two main goals. One is setting up regulations that will eliminate the possibility of this ever recurring. The other will be addressing the issues of people who are in foreclosure because of a decrease in income, due to the recession no one wants to admit exists.

By using the same formula a reputable bank uses to calculate how much mortgage you can afford based on your income, payments are recalculated to fit that formula. That payment is then adjusted to fit that range. Cost to the taxpayers - nothing.

The nearly bankrupt Wall Street firms whose greed and deception caused a good part of this mess will be receiving payments through the aforementioned plan. It is not the amount they had planned on, but it is cash flow.

Any payments in arrears can be added to the back of the mortgage, much like a balloon payment. Well before that payment is due, the bleeding will have stopped and there is a very good chance the value of the property will have increased.

Does this really sound any crazier than giving $700 billion to Wall Street firms so they can balance their books and hope that maybe it will encourage them to make loans? (Especially since making loans is not actually what they do?)

The other very shaky aspect of the recently deflated bailout proposal is a constitutional one.

In essence, the government will own millions of homes across America. Whether they plan to sell them in the future is irrelevant. They will own your home and your neighbor's home. That is not a role the government is supposed play. Our Constitution was founded on the principals of freedom and the right to own land. If we lose that, we have lost everything America stands for.

We also have to address the issues of the human beings who are becoming homeless because of this crisis. If all we do is spend $700 billion to buy up bad mortgages, we have done nothing to help the people who are paying for bad decisions made miles away from the nightmare their lives have become.

Perhaps the reason no one in Washington has considered solving the mortgage crisis with a more direct approach is because it favors people more than corporations. In the current atmosphere, one could hardly call that socialist. But that is the job of the government - to protect the people.

With election fever racing through Washington, all Congress seems to be interested in is finishing this up as fast as possible, so they can go out and campaign, so they can go back to Washington and not do what they were elected to do.

So I ask again: Is taking a direct approach to solving the problem at its root really crazier than spending $700 billion the government has to borrow?

Understanding how the patient was wounded helps prevent further injury, but is doesn't stop the bleeding. The only way to save our economic patient is to stop the bleeding. When you dial 911, they don't send a politician.

Maryann Tobin

Brooksville

FCAT Bonuses Should

Go To All Teachers

This is my fifth year as a faithful Hernando County employee. For four years I am proud to say that I worked at Fox Chapel Middle School, which, by the way, is a fabulous school. I am also proud to say that FCMS earned a grade of a "B" from the FCAT scores, which was quite an improvement from the previous year. Because of this improvement, the state allots money to the school to be distributed to its employees. The teachers and staff vote on how the money is distributed.

This year, I and many others made the decision to move to a different school in the county and, from what I've heard, the teachers and staff that voted on how the money was allotted chose not to include any of the former staff from last year to share in the money. I guess I don't blame them for wanting more money for themselves, but I think they are forgetting that the only reason they have that money is because of the many people who made the school's scores climb to a better grade.

Now, some may say that since I and other teachers went to a different school that we don't deserve a share of the money but, as an educator, isn't our No. 1 goal to teach children no matter where we are? Most of us who moved to a new school still stayed in the county; therefore, we are still making an impact on the same demographic of children and making a positive impact for the good of the county.

I was shocked and upset that I and the other educators who worked so incredibly hard to make FCMS's scores soar to a "B" were left out of the bonus money. Perhaps, there are sour feelings from those who stayed at FCMS to those who left, but let's not forget that we are all in this together. I believe that if a school's scores rise and money is allotted, then all those who were there that year should be entitled to a share of the money.

For those of you who are new to FCMS, you are working with many stellar professionals. For those of you who are veterans of FCMS and who knowingly voted your fellow colleagues out of the bonus, I'm surprised. You're welcome, and I will be looking for a personalized thank you card in my mail box.

Natalie Durrum

Spring Hill

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