Yo Doug,

Well, it's a given that any Repub who gets into office by any means necessary is going to cut taxes. That's all you folks can think of to solve problems. Then your PR folks get people parroting their favorite little nugget "Well, ya can't slove problems with just money" which means, after you strip it down, means "spend and let yer danged kids pick up the bills."

Lets take California fir example. A lot of the problems in California are related to Bush's tax cuts which mean less revenues to the states at a time when the states are expected to provide more services, especially in the area of Homeland Security, which the feds aren't paying their fair share. But back to California. The new governor is going to try to balance the budget by making deep cuts in programs for the poor and in mental health and in eductation. Now, given that the United States is the wealthiest of the developed countries while also having the highest rate of poverty, this seems to be a human rights issue. 1/3 of children in the US living in a single head of household family live in poverty. 1/10 th of all children in the US live in such poverty that they suffer from malnutrition and/or poor health.

So your guys think that by cutting off breakfast programs for malnourihed kids is the way to fix fiscal problems. Or cutting off day programs for mentally ill people who either do not work or cannot afford to purchase the services of these programs. And if you and your friends would take time to visit a few inner city schools, I'd be real curious to know what exactly more you could cut out of their budgets that haven't allready been cut...

Now, Doug, I know you to be a honorable man but sometimes I don't think you realize that fixing fiscal shortcomings by punishing the poor is what you Republican buddies are all about. Yeah, you can set these realities aside by just hiding behind the ol' "bleeding heart" PR crap but if you'll look beyond those cozy little PR defense mechanisms you'll see that lots of people suffer when the rich get their way in this country...

Lots!.......

Bobert