A letter to Rep. Tom McClintock

17 January 2011 The town hall meetings that you conducted were mostly attended by Republican voters. These meetings should be called “Republican party rallies.” The 17 members of my immediate family, many friends, and I, entirely disagree with your political and economic philosophy.

Example: We resent the fact that you mail fancy, colored brochures, harshly criticizing the Canadian health care system, which is far superior to the U.S. system. The recent mailing of so-called survey results — paid for by taxpayers — does not reflect the opinions of the general public.

We recognize the following facts ...

Question No. 1: Taxes are too high for the workers, the middle class, and small businesses, and taxes are too low for the 200 corporations who never paid any taxes and the wealthiest 2 percent Americans, whose taxes were cut by the Bush administration.

Question No. 2: The federal budget deficit was the highest it had ever been at the end of the Reagan administration, was slightly reduced during the Bush Sr. administration (in spite of the Gulf War), and eliminated during the Clinton administration, which provided $240 billion surplus to the Bush Jr. administration.

In 2008, about 750,000 jobs were being lost per month. The Bush administration Congressional budget office had projected a $1.3 trillion deficit for 2009 (now, you blame the Obama administration for the bloated deficit!). The cost of the two Middle East wars were not included in the Bush deficit; now, it is included in the projected deficit for 2010.

Question No. 3: Thirty-six industrialized countries have implemented a Medicare-type system mandatory to all citizens, young and old. The cost per capita (for their federal budgets): Norway $4,500, France $3,000, U.S. $7,500 ... and there are 40 million uninsured citizens in the U.S., 12 million of them children.

As a result of a very poor health care system, the life expectancy in the U.S. is 74 years; in western Europe it is 79 years; Japan, 82 years.

Obviously, the U.S. is 35 years behind 36 other countries in implementing a health care system beneficial to all

citizens. Our present system is only beneficial to the insurance and pharmaceutical companies.

Question No. 4: Illegal immigrants are mainly employed by farming corporations, pig and chicken factories, the slaughterhouses, etc. Solution: Heavily fine the employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Question No. 5: We would support the construction of several small dams rather than one big dam, with the condition that they produce electricity and provide flood control.

Question No. 6: Our unneeded bloated military budget, which is presently $850 billion, should be decreased by 5 percent a year for the next 10 years. The saved money should be used to improve the overall educational system, schools buildings, school supplies, teacher salaries, etc., and could also easily provide Medicare to everyone.



Jean-Jacques Legras lives in Cedar Ridge.
. Don't wait until it's too late, find out more about digital printing Melbourne.