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Our country needs a change

Ed Jordan, Leadville

In light of the tragic consequence and total devastation left by Hurricane Katrina, it is apparent that American’s priorities are not in line with the times. Because we live in a democratic society, we all share blame for the misleading and misguiding Bush administration that has left a city in ruins, possibly hundreds if not thousands dead, and where poverty, racial tension and extremely dangerous environmental destruction are allowed to jeopardize our existence so a few of the rich in this country can get richer. Now on top of everything else, President Bush pushed through congress yet another massive tax cut for the wealthy while allowing the poor to believe that they are getting the best deal. Quite the contrary.President Bush and his administration got us in a senseless war 8,000 miles away and is spending billions of dollars that could have been spent on domestic issues, including upgrading our electric power grids and our nation’s highways, Veterans Association funding for hospitals and medical treatment to take care of our wounded soldiers brought home from Iraq, EPA funding, and repairing and upgrading the levee system that the city of New Orleans asked for long before Katrina. Now New Orleans lies in ruins and hundreds of thousands are displaced and/or dead because the Bush administration gave massive tax breaks to the wealthy while paying for a pointless war that continues to drain American assets and kill our young men and women. We sent our National Guard members to Iraq to bolster the shortage of troops to get the job done, a job which was unachievable to start with. In doing so, our leaders left our fellow citizens in harm’s way when in fact our National Guard’s primary responsibilities is to protect our citizens here at home. Our leaders signed on the dotted line for grave suffering when this took place. Now we are stuck with a cost of trillions to rebuild our Gulf shores. With continued massive tax cuts for the rich, how are we going to continue to pay for a senseless war and the rebuilding of our Gulf shores, not to mention our aging and failing infrastructure and other potential future disasters? We must take responsibility for changing our nation’s priorities. At this time and point our nation’s resources are stretched as tightly as a drum. If we do not change our nation’s priorities, can we weather another natural disaster, failure of our infrastructure, or terrorist attack like 9/11? To quote an editorial from the Boulder Daily Camera, “When taxpayers cannot rely on their government to help them in times of disaster, that is a real security problem, right here in the homeland. How to pay for all of this? Read our lips: Repeal the destructive Bush tax cuts and stop running America like a country club for the wealthiest.”


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