Hey Fritz. I'll bet you've never met a dictator you haven't liked. We used to be a free country; that is before this soft tyranny descended upon America. What do you think of the triumvirate of this country's ideals, printed on every coin: 1- Liberty, 2- In God We Trust, and 3- E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one)? You mention the disaster we missed regarding Romney while we witness the destruction of what used to be the greatest country on Earth. Workforce participation rate lowest since 1979. $90-trillion dollar sea of red ink based on future entitlement commitments. We're borrowing $0.43 of every dollar we spend. We're hollowing out our military (i.e.-5000 nukes down to 1500 with the goal of 300, 500 ship navy down to 180, staffing of military at post WWII lows). Record high numbers on welfare and food stamps. Our enemies are on the move (see North Korea, China, Russia). But Fritz, you're what Mark Levin calls a "drone." Nothing will change your mind about the direction of this once great country. I have a feeling that exogenous events will be upon us soon, and it'll be too late to change course. We've lost the United States of America to leftist ideology.

Well. We always could do what you're doing. Place our index fingers in our ears, and yell constantly, "blah, blah, blah. I can't hear you!" All the doors, security systems, and buzzers will not/do not/have not worked. I ask you to do the following test. Seriously. Go to any school back/side/front locked door. Dress nicely, be clean shaven, and smile friendly and wave at the first person that walks by. I guarantee you, GUARANTEE, they will open the door for you. Kids/staff in schools are sheep. They never think about the wolves waiting to attack. I implore you to read this great essay/speech: http://www.killology.com/sheep_dog.htm

John. I tend to agree with you regarding armed guards in the schools. However, in an attack, they would be the first to be taken out by the bad guys. I'd take it one step further. Let's allow those willing to go through the arduous training, psychological testing, and requirements, to arm themselves. By the way, James Holmes, the Aurora Colorado murderer had 7-cinemas to pick from. He selected the ONLY ONE that touted itself as a "gun free zone." Public pronouncements of disarmament is a provocation to those wanting to do harm. School shootings will happen again unless those working there are willing to defend themselves against such attacks. Let staff carry concealed, with proper training and background checks.

Hey Wallace. Who wrote your headline? I read your letter. I do not see the word "greed." Is the Gazette inserting their own bias? Greed? Really? Why did the Gazette place that word in the title of your editorial? I didn't get the sense that greed played a role in the problems with our federal budget. Or maybe it does. Does the Gazette mean the type of greed that they won't speak of? (Shhhhhh!) Like Joe Biden spending $1 million dollars for two nights in London and Paris? That greed? Or his $400,000 limo tab? That greed? Or the trips the Obamas have taken to Atlantis (Bahamas), Aspen, Hawaii, Florida and this summer to Martha's Vineyard? That greed? Or the rock concerts at the White House? That greed? Or the $1 million dollar Tiger Woods golf outing? That greed? Or the President's Colorado fundraiser last night? That greed? When it comes to greed, I like Milton Friedman's quote: "The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. There is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system." (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV...)

Mark. There are numerous studies showing that every time the minimum wage increases, employment decreases. Have you ever worked in the private sector? You've always been a "community organizer." You think that the private sector is one huge money pit, with greedy business owners taking advantage of all. Why stop at $9/hour? Why not $10 or $20 or $100/hour? Let's grant everyone a minimum wage of $100/hour? At some point, you'll say, "that's too high." You see Mark, the minimum wage is not based on any facts regarding the abilities of the worker. It's based on a disinterested party's concept of what's fair. It has nothing to do with ability, or age, or job description. It's completely arbitrary. And it's harmful to the workforce and the very people you think you're defending. You and politicians like you place yourselves on a higher moral plane; patting yourselves on the back as you profess love for your fellow man. Meanwhile, your actions foster destruction on the morale of the workforce. You only worry about intentions and not results. Do some research. The minimum wage reduces the number of jobs. Here are a few places to visit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougbandow/2... and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9965039/...

I'm sorry to see Rudnick's go. I'm not sure what could have kept them afloat. But this article makes me think about Metroplex too. Ray Gillen is a nice man with good intentions. But he also is just a man. A human like you and me. He has no brilliance or magic solutions. A group of men and women sitting in a room, deciding the winners and losers in our system, is doomed to fail. It truncates the system of rewards/punishments set in motion once capitalism is unleashed. The Mastermind works his magic, and when that magic doesn't yield favorable results, the Mastermind says we have to do more. Can you imagine a time when Metroplex would trumpet its own demise? Would there ever be a time when they would ask to give back the 0.50% sales tax levy to the consumer; declaring victory and closing down? It'll never happen. That's because the mastermind's work is never done.

Joanne. Did you happen to notice that our newly minted Assemblyman, Angelo Santabarbara voted AGAINST the amendment to put funding back into the budget for the developmentally disabled? What an outrage.

The patient should be allowed to purchase the devices they want. Of course, that system doesn't exist right now. Most of what a patient wants is paid for by a 3rd party. So there's no examination of the need vs. cost by the user. But if we listen to people like Dr. Ben Carson, we would be free to use some of our accumulated life-long medical savings account to purchase whatever we wanted for our own healthcare needs. There are limited resources. Therefore the use and abuse of those precious resources are reduced when the patient competes with private providers for equipment and care. Quality goes up. Cost goes down. It's called capitalism. We have socialized medicine, thus the editorials like this one talking about the evil of "increased sales" and with words like "crackdowns." Has anyone talked about the concepts of injecting some liberty into the healthcare discussions?

Hey Terry. Remember Obama's "one-time" stimulus package of spending in 2009? It was $800 billion dollars. It was going to be the shot-in-the-arm to "stimulate" our moribund economy. We had "shovel-ready" projects lined up. We had Joe Biden going around the country talking about "Stimulus Summer." All those road signs highlighted the myriad construction projects (only 6% of the stimulus went to this, but I digress), courtesy of the heralded Stimulus package. Unemployment would shoot up above 8% if we didn't do it! (never mind that it has stayed at that level) That supposed "one-time" expenditure is embedded in the baseline spending of the Federal budget. How about removing the $800 billion dollars from the budget? What do you think Terry? How about we tackled the $125 billion dollars in waste, fraud, abuse, and duplicate services identified by the Congressional Budget Office? What's your answer? Typical leftist: RAISE TAXES. REALLY?

Meanwhile, more than a vacation a month for the Obamas. Hawaii (and 32-hours of golf in 5 rounds), Aspen for skiing, Florida for more golf (with Tiger at $1 million dollars), Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, and now plans are underway for Martha's Vineyard. Joe Biden spent about $1 million dollars over the course of 2-nights in Paris and London PLUS another $400,000 in limo fees. Just think about the added Secret Service costs to these junkets! But we're cutting research and White House Tours? Does anyone really believe this? This administration is the "Let them eat cake" crowd.