Inbox

  • Mr. Speaker, You're Up
    Re "Mr. Speaker" [Nov. 15]: In 2008, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States with 69,498,516 votes, the most votes cast for any President in history. On Nov. 2, John Boehner, who has tried to block much of the current Administration's legislation, was re-elected with 139,254 votes — 30% fewer than he received just two years earlier. Yet now he proclaims that "the American people have spoken." This dour naysayer, who in 1995 passed out checks to politicians from tobacco lobbyists on the floor of Congress, would be wise to re-examine and check his astounding arrogance.
    Joey Green,
    West Hills, Calif., U.S.

    I will not mock Boehner for shedding tears when recalling the rough road he traveled while chasing the American Dream. However, I wonder why he doesn't feel a similar empathy for those millions of Americans who are trying just as hard today to realize the American Dream but who are so heartbreakingly failing.
    Dorian de Wind,
    Austin

    A day after the elections, Boehner said the current health care bill will "ruin the best health care system in the world." What system is he using? My wife and I pay $1,300 per month for our policy, which had a 60% premium increase this year. It has taken me six months to get paid for a simple claim for my daughter, with over 40 hours of letter writing, phone calls and listening to excuses about "lost paperwork." Health care and job creation should be the Republicans' top priorities.
    Paul Creteau,
    Lakeville, Pa., U.S.

    Show Me the Money
    Fareed Zakaria's "A Real Revolution?" should be required reading for all members of Congress, especially those Republicans recently elected to office [Nov. 15]. How can one call for deficit reduction and tax cuts simultaneously? How can one wish to cut the deficit and leave defense, Medicare and Social Security off the table? If Republicans are serious about the deficit, it is also time to trim Medicare and to means-test Social Security. Hard medicine, to be sure — but since the Republicans under George W. Bush created this deficit, they should shoulder the responsibility to undertake the hard steps to reduce it.
    Katie Stevens,
    Moab, Utah, U.S.

    He Blinded Me with Science
    In 10 Questions, Stephen Hawking compares the brain to a computer [Nov. 15]. A brilliant invention by humans, the computer is still inferior to the human brain given to us by our Creator. No human can create a brain.
    Robert Bickmeyer,
    Troy, Mich., U.S.

    Korean Dream
    Michael Schuman's encomium for South Korea reads a bit like a publicity pamphlet for the Seoul G-20 summit ["Asia's Latest Miracle," Nov. 15]. Having lived in Seoul for more than five years, I can still say that I am gawked at or leered at on a daily basis and witness to continuing sexism, hierarchical insistence and one-way-only roads for students. Yes, the country has much going for it with cutting-edge technology, a rich history, amazing transportation infrastructure, vast natural wonders and a growing cosmopolitan youth. But sweeping the social realities under the rug won't generate the changes that will truly make South Korea matter.
    John M. Rodgers,
    Seoul