Letters: People should research issues, presidential candidates

Even though this country is becoming nothing more than a "hollow shell" ("America's economy has become like a ‘hollow shell,'" Aug. 7), it is the good people of this country that can turn everything around. Competing in a world economy should mean that we demand the same standards from the countries that we are buying products from as the demands we put on every employer in this country.

Most of the products we buy come from China. The good people of the United States have helped the Chinese government grow and China is the biggest polluter in the world and are huge human rights violators controlling everything right down to how many children a family can have.

General Motors closed the Buick plant in Flint, Mich., and where did it move it? China, of course. The people in China love those Buicks and General Motors decided that it was more cost effective to move that plant so it would not have to pay a decent wage or have to ship the cars. Mattel has all of its toys made in China. When it was discovered that there was lead in the toys and there was a recall, did Mattel take all of those toys back and destroy them? The answer is no! All of those lead-based toys were sent to discount stores and were sold to poorer people that probably never knew that the toys were toxic. All reported by Fox News during the holiday season last year.

The last report on China was the intent to drill in international waters off the coast of Florida and California, which will suck the oil right out from underneath the United States. It may not bother many people, but it should. The United States has a standard that our government and our people have insisted on, can we count on the fact that China will hold to the higher standard?

There is nothing wrong with a world economy if all are on an even playing field, however a lot of countries tax all U.S.-made goods coming into their countries while the U.S. does not.

Hundreds of thousands of hard-working Americans no longer have jobs so that big business can pull in a higher profit by paying the poor in foreign countries a fraction of this country's minimum wage. Sooner or later if they stay on the same course, there will not be any people with a decent job to buy their products and then we will no longer be in a recession, but a full-blown depression.

We should all be mindful of the person we elect for president and the choices that we make when buying foreign products. Some feel that choosing a president that is more socialist is going to bring us all a great life, but just wait until the government is deciding most of everything that you do. Some feel that government-run medicine will be the best thing for us all, but ask some of our neighbors to the north that have serious illnesses that are not getting treatment in a timely manor just how much they love their health system.

The person that you vote for in the presidential election is going to make some of these choices for us and I just hope that everyone researches the person they are going to vote for. One might ask if they can afford higher taxes and an insurance for all that is projected to cost the government more than it can take in. What will happen then?

Brenda Johnston

Crescent City