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Lesson of the week: Do not elect someone to the U.S. Senate who is not yet 30 years old at election even if he will be when he takes office. Cases in point: Ted Kennedy (46 years in office) and Joe Biden (36 years). They stay there much too long

-- Jim Hill, Irvington

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People should stop referring to President Obama's appointees as corrupt. The politically correct term is morally challenged.

-- Charles Crum, Ruther Glen

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Perhaps the parents who objected to the president addressing their children with the radical left-wing notion of taking personal responsibility for their schoolwork would prefer a broadcast of George Orwell's "Two-Minute Hate," with Barack Obama in the role of Emmanuel Goldstein.

-- Jim O'Connor, Richmond

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The president and Congress are prepared to authorize cost-of-living pay raises of at least 2 percent to all federal employees. How can anyone justify giving out pay raises in this economic environment? Millions of private-sector folks are unemployed without near-term prospects for employment. Couple that with companies implementing hiring freezes, pay freezes, and reducing hours. How about a freeze on federal pay? Don't we have a moral obligation to be fair to all American workers?

-- Ron Durrer, New Kent

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I'm all for universal health care as long as everyone pays a fair price for their individual plan. There should be no family plans. Why should there be family plans that cost less per person than what a single person would have to pay? Historical data should drive the health care price just as life insurance prices change with age, sex, and risk.

-- James R. Flinn, Richmond

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The saying goes, "When you have your health you have everything." When the federal government has our health (care) it will indeed have everything.

-- Ken Essigman, Mechanicsville

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If funding for California firefighters was fixed to state revenues from logging, much the way we tend to fund road construction with gasoline revenues, the two could fix each other. With more logging, the state would have more funds and, if the cuts were targeted, fewer fires. Instead, California will probably continue to pump smoke into the air instead of lumber into their economy.

-- Trevor Berwick, Bumpass

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Russia's action should have shown the U.S. that we can't win a war in Afghanistan. The Russians pulled up stakes and let us make the same mistakes they did. How deeply in debt will we get before we understand the futility of trying to change the world to our way of living? Maybe another 45,000 troops and we can win this war. I, for one, am tired of our young people being sacrificed for this useless endeavor, which is a not in our best interest. If President Obama wants to do something good for the country, he should end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and stop trying to make his mark with a health program that doesn't seem to be wanted by most Americans.

-- Billy J. Braughton, Henrico

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President Obama's approval rating is going down faster than the value of a subprime mortgage.

-- Jim Seay, Henrico

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As a small-business owner, I waited to examine the stimulus package until it was passed by Congress and signed by President Obama. Small-business owners create the majority of jobs in America, so I was confident there would be a system for us to create jobs. Unfortunately, the stimulus bill was just filled with pork, waste, and money for large companies. It was another failure. Obama and Congress just don't get it.

-- David Packett, Richmond