January 08, 2008 05:47 pm
—
McKillip’s loss was top story
New Year’s Day Tribune headline: “Goodnight victory tops 2007 stories.”
Query: Who were the readers who came up with the top 10 stories? Query: What made a seven-hour Chrysler strike a top 10 story? Query: And why would the forming of an economic umbrella group be a top 10 story?
You would think that the historic defeat of an incumbent mayor in a primary election would be a top 10 story. Historically, it was undoubtedly the top story.
There are a large number of people, Democrats and Republicans, who believe that Goodnight’s election was a forgone conclusion after the primary election.
Merrill W. Otterman
Kokomo
Vote for candidate who’ll repeal NAFTA
How wonderful it is that Delphi doesn’t want to pay its workers decent wages and benefits, but they are happy to pay a troubleshooter $8.3 million to steer the company through a bankruptcy case. And their CEO stands to gain $5.3 million in stocks and options.
President Theodore Roosevelt talked about the malefactors of great wealth during his administration, but they couldn’t carry water to the global malefactors, who intend to pile up their millions and live like kings while the ordinary people are reduced to being peasants.
Since NAFTA was passed in 1993, our manufacturing base has moved to Mexico and China. Mexico exported more than 900,000 cars to the U.S. in 2006. Where did Mexico get an auto industry? From the U.S.! Is it good that our auto industry has been exported to Mexico? Has the price of a new car dropped because Mexicans make a fraction of what Americans make?
We are now a colony of China. We furnish the raw materials, and they do the manufacturing. Is it helping the Chinese workers? No. They remain peasants. And the American populace is going to be mostly peasants unless NAFTA is repealed. The liberals want Americans to depend on the government from the cradle to the grave.
Without the laborers making enough money to pay taxes, this will happen. The companies don’t pay taxes, the rich evade taxes, the people employed by the likes of Wal-Mart and McDonalds can’t pay taxes. This country will be ripe for a dictatorship. Hillary’s holiday commercial was all about what the government will give us if we elect her.
The Clintons were the main ones backing NAFTA. They received all kinds of goodies from the Chinese big shots in return. Did this help the ordinary Chinese? No, it made the global manufacturers even richer.
During World War II, 40 percent of all U.S. jobs were manufacturing. Today it is 10 percent and falling. This won’t help the people in China and Mexico, but it will destroy our middle class.
I will vote for the presidential candidate who will repeal NAFTA. All of us ordinary people should find out where each candidate stands on NAFTA.
Evelyn B. Harrington
Kokomo
Monsanto discount is bad government
I have read the articles about the federal government (federal crop insurance) giving a break to farmers who plant Monsanto triple stacks or VT3 hybrids. It sounds like the discount will on by $2 an acre, which is not much compared to the premium.
As a farmer and a seed dealer for Beck’s Superior Hybrids, I am concerned about Monsanto being able to manipulate the federal government. I know from the tests that we do on our farm that the latest Monsanto Yield Guard Traits, such as VT3 and CBRW hybrids, are some of the very best in the industry today, but there are some Herculex hybrids (including Beck 5316HX1) that come close. I question the decision of the federal government to only allow traited hybrids from Monsanto for the federal crop insurance discount.
Monsanto developed a great marketing strategy, which was created for the farmers to pay tech fees and royalty fees, which helped pay for the technology that we use today. It appears those fees not only helped Monsanto develop technology but also played a role in providing enough profits for them to buy Holdens and other seed companies, which eventually limits their competition. I definitely respect Monsanto for all the technology that they have brought the farming industry, but I just can’t understand why our federal government would single out Monsanto for the federal crop program discounts. If the federal government would allow the traited hybrids (Herculex and/or HX1RR) from other seed companies such as Dow, Syngenta and DuPont, I wouldn’t be so concerned about the decisions made by leaders in our federal government.
Bryan Kirkpatrick
Greentown
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.