Outdated logic
We are again seeing the madness of the stock market's obsession with inflation.
When the recent employment report came out, it showed a drop in unemployment to the lowest level in six years. On the Financial News Network we saw the long faces and heard the voices of doom.
With these near-historic lows in unemployment came the horrible news that inflation and wages would no doubt rise because of this.
Of course, the stock market reacted with indecision and apprehension.
Then both the December retail sales figures and the revised November sales figures came out. November was revised down and December showed an actual 0.2 of 1 percent decline from last year's key Christmas sales period.
Break out the champagne, smiles were everywhere on Wall Street. The Dow reacted by rising 50 points. Great news, but for all the wrong reasons.
As more and more economists are questioning the belief that any inflation is evil, the realization is growing among these same experts that most of the severe inflationary spikes we have experienced in the last 20 years were often the result of outside influences.
The most obvious were the oil crises of the late '70s and early '80s. I am appalled that financial commentators and analysts employed by the stock and bond trading firms can so blithely dismiss job growth and a strong economy as a negative to this country.
I'm sure that they don't oppose their six figure incomes and the large pay increases they get, yet they bemoan the fact that the working people of this country might actually see their fortunes improve and their standard of living go up.
What happens this year if the demon of 3 percent inflation rises to 4 percent? Will the bond market's tail once again wag the Federal Reserve System's dog?
Will we have another six interest rate hikes this year?
We now have a truly global economy that diminishes the impact of modest inflation.
Last fall, Sen. Paul Sarbanes commented that a 1 percent hike in interest rates meant that 200,000 fewer families could buy, in many cases, their first home. Home ownership is one of the mainstays of the American dream.
Please let us stop this outdated logic. We are supposed to be happy with people getting jobs, homes and increases in their paychecks.
Maybe even some of these folks will be able to stop working second and third jobs and be able to spend more time with their families.
Ron Freeland
Catonsville
Switching parties
The recent gubernatorial election has caused much controversy.
The Maryland citizens who voted for Ellen Sauerbrey are disappointed. Many of us are trying to understand how Parris Glendening won the election, even though he carried only two counties and Baltimore city.
Recent press coverage of the trial concerning voter fraud was unfavorable for Ellen Sauerbrey. She has been called names and accused of having temper tantrums, just because she is fighting for what she believes.
I question whether the press would have been so unfavorable to Mrs. Sauerbrey if she had not been a woman and a Republican.
Frankly, I admire her and believe all citizens of Maryland should thank her for uncovering improper voting procedures in Baltimore City.
If witnesses had been allowed to testify and evidence not withheld, who knows what improprieties would have been uncovered.
As a Democrat who voted for her, I urge all disillusioned Democrats, particularly those who voted for Ellen Sauerbrey, to change their party affiliation, as I am doing.
We can protest the Democrats' liberal agenda of taxing and spending. We can protest the questionable gubernatorial election and trial outcome.
We can support Ellen Sauerbrey, who would have brought welcome and much needed change to Maryland.
Laura Benarick
Joppa
Sponsored parties
I was surprised and disappointed that Gov. Parris Glendening, a man known for high integrity and intelligence, would ask for and receive funds from lobbyists and companies for inaugural parties, putting him in the position of being beholden to them and their causes.
Vivian Adelberg Rudow
Baltimore
Stand proud, Hillary
It was both sad and painful to learn that Hillary Rodham Clinton has accepted full responsibility for the failure of the health care reform proposal.
I well recall both Bill and Hillary Clinton burning the midnight oil in town meetings across the nation, willingly, unhesitatingly and knowledgeably answering questions from citizens rising to condemn or commend the Clintons for their boldness and ingenuity.
I also recall their humane appeal to ensure that 39 million uninsured citizens have access to medical care.
Many other features of the health care reform proposal would have served the average citizen well.
Unaccountable and unconscionable voices rose in unison across the nation from talk show hosts and their ilk in a desperate effort to discredit the Clintons by subverting the reform proposal until citizens became incapable of separating fact from fiction.
Hillary Clinton has no apologies to make to anyone. She presented her views well and often and should stand proud.
Apologies should be heard from those who diverted our citizens from focusing on the genuine purpose of health care reform that hundreds of millions of peoples in nations across the world take for granted.
eon Peace Ried
Baltimore
Jefferson was a visionary who deserves honor
According to Gregory Kane, Americans elected a "child molester" to the highest office of the land (Other Voices, "Of heroes and Renaissance men," Dec. 22). They also dedicated a memorial to him in Washington and had his face carved in stone on Mount Rushmore.
Thomas Jefferson was a great statesman and ambassador, author of the Declaration of Independence, a political philosopher and a major contributor to democracy.
And yet Mr. Kane states that he does not want to be counted as an admirer.
Mr. Kane refers to a supposed relationship between Jefferson and Sally Hemings, who was 14 years of age at the time.
If we assume this supposition is correct, we should judge according to the standards of the 18th century, not those of our time.
In the latter half of the 18th century what Mr. Kane refers to as child molestation was apparently a common occurrence.
In regard to racism, Jefferson was ahead of his time. He wanted to abolish slavery. He wisely chose to work for independence and the establishment of a democratic republic.
As a result, democracy was secured so that freedom for all
people could be obtained.
The one reservation Jefferson had was that slavery could not be abolished at the time of independence and in the early years of the republic.
It took another 60 years for slavery to be abolished. The man had a vision, and time proved him right.
The comparison of Toussaint L'Ouverture and Thomas Jefferson shows a lack of knowledge on Mr. Kane's part. It is astonishing Mr. Kane believes that Toussaint accomplished more than Jefferson.
After obtaining by force absolute control of the Haitian government, Toussaint appropriated the plantations and used the same slave conditions, except for a minimal salary.
There were no civil rights, no constitution and no democratic organizations.
During his dictatorial administration there was no private enterprise and a marked decline in the production and exportation of sugar, coffee, cocoa and lumber.
Without due process, Toussaint took possession and ownership of businesses and allowed whites, but not blacks, to emigrate.
Under his administration, numerous atrocities were committed, and the sale of private property was forbidden. By 1802 he governed in a state of terror.
Thomas Jefferson deserves his place in history -- and his comeback as a "Renaissance man."
Rafael Perez-Mera
Randallstown
Tampa Bay way
I read with great amusement the Jan. 8 article by Jon Morgan about the vilification of Peter Angelos by the Tampa-St. Petersburg media.
For years, people in that part of Florida have been trying to steal an existing major league baseball franchise.
Have those folks been abused in the local media? Somehow, I doubt it. They've probably been hailed as civic-minded, righteous crusaders for truth, justice and the Tampa Bay way.
Hypocrisy is alive and well in west central Florida.
Don Brizendine
Baltimore