Peter Hill: Compromise replaced by total acrimony and gridlock

Published Date

To the editor:

After reading Jim Salmon, is there any wonder why there is gridlock in D.C.? Compromise and middle ground has been replaced by total acrimony and political gridlock.

We have some of the highest corporate taxes in the industrial world, but they are riddled with loopholes. How about a rate that the spenders (Congress) and the earners (corporations) can agree on without all the special interest loopholes? Certainly tough, but not impossible with leadership from the President that is now lacking.

Jim, why do you think corporations are sitting on several trillions of cash instead of investing? Could it be trillion-plus deficits without end, a new trillion-plus tax for the Affordable Care Act, and government spending at 26 pet. of GDP? Hell, we make Greece and Spain look good with our spending in relation to GDP.

Both sides of the aisle have to look at the black holes of promises for Social Security and Medicare to come up with a fix. Again a problem that requires leadership of the president that is now lacking.

If Mr. Salmon thinks Dodd-Frank protects us from the dark side of capitalism, I have a bridge for sale. Since this garbage law was passed, the “too big to fail banks” have become bigger, their trillions of derivatives have become tens of trillions more and no one as yet to agree on the “Volker Rule.” These banks have given millions to both sides of the aisle to protect their oligarch turf. When the resolution to this is another failure with their hands out for more bailouts, the public should demand the death penalty and these criminals in pinstripes deserve no less.

Mr. Salmon apparently believes the government can run health care better than the private sector — may God help us all. Until people have “skin in the game” to comparative shop, cost containment on the last six months of life, and education on obesity and diabetes happens we will never gain control of this enormous problem.

As far as Romney sending jobs to China, may I point to Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE and Obama’s Jobs Czar. Immelt has sent and is still sending thousands of high paying American jobs to China. Just who is calling the kettle black here? Romney has paid it forward by working for no pay as head of the Olympic committee and as Gov. of Massachusetls.

No matter who is elected president, we as a country are headed for painful times. Debt is a powerful and all consuming demon. We will have to de-leverage (default) or inflate (most probable) and both will cause pain to most people. Money is fleeing the European Union for the apparent safety of the U.S. dollar but in time the owners of this money will figure out they have just shifted their chairs from the bow to the stem of the Titanic.

Peter Hill

North Conway