Your 2 Cents

How to participate: Please provide your first and last name, street address, the locality in which you live, and daytime telephone number for verification. Each selected comment will appear with the contributor's name and locality only. Messages are subject to editing, and not all can be published. Please try to keep comments fewer than 50 words. Call 804-559-VENT (8368) or e-mail .

Conservatives please note: Liberals are also concerned about the deficit. It skyrocketed with the Bush administration's bank bailouts and the wasteful Iraq war. It was further increased to stimulate the economy. Your disdain for the latter action smacks of sour grapes. The president and Democratic Congress were elected to serve middleand working-class interests. If you wish to return to government that primarily rewards the country-club set, please vote for GOP candidates.

-- John G. Schuiteman, Ashland

. . .

Gee, it's too bad George W. Bush isn't around now. We could blame the swine flu vaccine shortage and the gas price increase on him.

-- Noreen Brown, Richmond

. . .

What if we accessed all the oil and gas that this country has? What if we eliminated capital gains taxes and cut corporate taxes in half to help our factories compete in the world market? What if we eliminated government regulations for the health insurance industry and let it compete across state lines? What if we stopped giving billions of our dollars to countries that hate us? What if we stopped illegal immigration? What if our elected representatives read the bills they try to force down our throats? What if the American people figure out that the government cannot provide everything? Our problems would be solved.

-- Bill Dudding, Midlothian

. . .

As a former co-worker and friend of the late James R. Flinn, I will miss his comments in the Sunday "Your 2 Cents."

-- Andrew Seamons, Powhatan

. . .

The Obama administration has a war strategy that would impress Sun Tzu -- and is implementing it decisively. Unfortunately, it's not for Afghanistan or Iraq; it's for FOX News, the Chamber of Commerce, insurance companies, conservative commentators, and private citizens who dare disagree with the administration's policies.

-- Rick Provost, Midlothian

. . .

As you enter the airport on Williamsburg Road there are two nice-looking gateway brick walls declaring "Richmond International Airport" in shiny aluminum letters. Too bad you can't see them when the sun goes down. The airport commission can spend $40 million on facility improvements, but where's the budget for a few light bulbs at the entrance?

-- G. H. Latham, Rockville

. . .

Lets see now: Unemployment is at 9.8 percent; the so-called health care reform will add trillions of dollars to the national debt; brave soldiers are dying in Afghanistan while we wait for Obama to make up his mind about Gen. McChrystal's requirements; it's increasingly evident that global warming is not real and certainly not man-made; and the stimulus did not work so we continue to hemorrhage jobs. Yet, the president dances at his salsa party and starts fights with Fox News, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other entities. Hope and change -- we hope he changes his attitude and becomes a real president.

-- Larry Uloth, Gum Spring

. . .

Wouldn't it be nice if the Richmond Flying Squirrels got a chance to play the Toledo Mud Hens?

-- Howard Lindsey, Allen Springs

. . .

The poet e.e. cummings made a remark that he was living so far above his income that it could be said they were living apart. This sounds like our government. It is living so far above its income, it is living very far apart from its base -- the American people.

-- Caroline O'Connor, Richmond