Tea Party and the debt deal
Dear Editor:
Now is not the time for recriminations against Tea Party-backed members of Congress who voted in the end for the debt deal. This is not the time to start fighting amongst ourselves. Nothing could make the Left happier than to see a splintering of the Tea Party movement. We have to agree that, no matter how disappointed we are with the final deal — and I am — that final vote was something on which honest conservatives could disagree. The President used his bully pulpit to argue that the Tea Party was leading the nation to Armageddon, and the compliant media acted as a thousand megaphones for that line. It is understandable that some Tea Party conservatives thought this would not help the Tea Party’s standing with the public. There have been good and bad actors on both sides of the debt ceiling debate. Let’s leave the recriminations to the liberals and stay united and focused on achieving the real spending cuts that Congress promised and electing a President and Congress to support, rather than fight, a balanced budget amendment and other limited government principles. That is what we should be concentrating on, starting today.
Richard A. Viguerie
Chairman, ConservativeHQ.comManassas, VA
Road improvements create jobs
Dear Editor:
Congestion on our roads costs the U.S. an estimated $145 billion annually in wasted time, repairs and operating expenses. That’s an unnecessary burden that our economy is in no shape to carry.
Yet, Washington seems to be toying with short-term transportation plans and cuts to transportation funding. That’s no way to remedy America’s gridlock. Instead, Congress should pass a long-term (at least six years), well-funded surface transportation bill that allows for real road, bridge, rail and transit improvements.
New transportation projects will create thousands of new jobs in and of themselves, but that’s small potatoes compared to how improved transportation and logistics efficiency will boost our overall economic picture.
Our economy can’t grow if cars and trucks can’t go. Tell your Congressman it’s time to get Florida and the nation rolling again!
William A. DiRico, Jr.
President – Southeast Division Martin Marietta Materials
Duluth, GA
