Many jobs in the United States have been replaced by cheap foreign labor, causing widespread unemployment. One proposed solution is to impose high tariffs on imported goods. The problem with this approach is that it makes goods more costly and thus lowers the purchasing power and standard of living of the average American. So imposing high tariffs is not a very satisfactory solution. Besides, the dollar credits accumulated by overseas companies for their goods must eventually be used to purchase American goods and thus stimulate the economy.

The solution proposed by the Republican political party is to lower taxes paid by the general public. The problem with this idea is that it leaves less money for essential services and does not reduce the U. S. national debt of almost 7 trillion dollars (a billion dollars multiplied 7000 times). Each taxpayer's share of this national debt amounts to over $23,000, and interest has to be paid on this debt. This interest expense comes right out of your paycheck as part of your Federal income tax deduction. That means less money in your pocket to purchase goods and services.

The best solution is to create jobs that produce goods, services, and infrastructure that benefit the average American. Instead, the Bush administration is spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars on wars for which there is no justification, and which greatly increase the threat of terrorist response against Americans here and abroad.

The American public should make it clear, once and for all, that government does, in fact, have an obligation to the public to provide essential services. We can no longer buy the big lie that government aid to the needy is "socialism" and un-American. In a typical American city there are thousands of persons with no housing and no medical care. And yet our government is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on insane military invasions. This is a disgrace! This money should be spent in the United States for education, health care, transportation, and retirement benefits. This will create real jobs that will stimulate the economy and pay down the national debt.

What is critically needed is an administration that has enough common sense not to foment anti-American hatred by military intervention against governments in the Muslim world that were never a military threat, or terrorist threat, to the United States. Bush admitted in a January 31, 2003 press conference that he had no information connecting Saddam Hussein and the World Trade Center attack.

Common sense and our experience in Viet Nam should make it very clear that when armed forces destroy a country's infrastructure and kill thousands of its citizens, they will fight back. Terrorists don't need a sophisticated organization to carry acts of terror. Timothy McVeigh is a good example of the fact. The American public should be firmly resolved that our imposed military dictatorships can not stop terrorism!