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Letter to the Editor: Republicans Cheat Seniors, Romney Speaks Out of Turn

See what this reader has to say about the current state of national politics.

Reader Marc Perkel submitted the following letter to the editor this week. Want to submit one yourself? Write to jacob.bourne@patch.com and we'll publish it. 

Eighteen percent of Americans over 65 don't have the required photo ID to vote in Republican controlled states that passed voter ID laws. Republicans are denying seniors the ability to vote in an election where Republicans intend to make severe changes to Medicare and Social Security. Republicans are cheating seniors out of their right to representation.

The way I see it is that when a party has to cheat to win they are admitting through their conduct that they can't win on the merits of their position. I think that it is Un-American to cheat seniors out of the right to vote and that the rest of us who still can vote should stand up for our seniors. After all, we will someday become seniors ourselves and when we take care of our seniors, we are taking care of ourselves and the values that America stands for. We have to show Republicans that dishonesty is not an American value.

Furthermore, Candidate Mitt Romney this week made the world a more dangerous place today when he made stupid comments about the murder of our ambassador in Libya. Romney reminded the world that America is just one bad election away from going back to Bush, or even worse. That undermines the world's confidence in American leadership. Even Bush knows to keep his mouth shut until he at least figures out what's going on.

I'm Marc Perkel - And I approved this message!

Where do you stand on the issues? Do you agree with Marc? Disagree? Tell us in the comments!

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Beamer September 15, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Marc - My 90 year old grandmother has an ID. The ID's can be had for free. If there is no one to take her to get an ID - how does she get out to vote? Romney made STUPID comments? Our Embassador is DEAD. Our Prez was so concerned about the MESS in the middle east - he flew to LAS VEGAS! Plus FACTS are coming out how the WH knew something was going to happen and did NOTHING. Now we have 4 DEAD americans. Whatever, we will find out in November where this country is headed.
trish dixon September 15, 2012 at 04:10 pm
Totally agree with Beamer. I am 63 and over a standard weekend of shopping I had to pull out my photo ID over a dozen times. Even when I purchased beer for my husband at Target. We have a bigger issue at hand if these 18%(your number) over 65 cannot purchase anything, cannot drive, cannot travel out of the Country, cannot receive medical care and can't even drop off dead batteries at our recycling facility on Montague. As for Romney speaking out on our behalf, I urge you to read Obama's Muslim speech he gave in Egypt in 2009. I am old enough to vividly remember Carter in 1979. History does repeat itself but this time it will be devastating. As a retired Democratic Milpitas Official I can tell you that there is no such thing as a coincidence. Ms Clinton dropped the ball by not placing all Embassies on high alert before 9/11. No Marines, rubber bullits and ignoring the fact that Mr. Obama's "hit list" of drone attacks took out one of their leaders in June. Obama glorified the assassination of Bin Ladin by encouraging his Hollywood supporters to create a political movie and the reaction by one of the SEALS to print his own version that showed on CBS 60 Minutes just days before Ambassador Stevens was murdered. A well planned attack in the lines of our very own and detailed killing of Bin Ladin. As for the You Tube movie trailer being used as the excuse I urge you to research Eyptian Coptic Christians. Their history goes back thousands of years.
smantha September 15, 2012 at 05:40 pm
Outright lies by this writer..
The Republican plan is to fully fund medicare - instead of robbing it of 875 million like Obama did. Obama is bankrupting medicare every day...... Obama does not want to save Medicare but replace it by a death panel where any new improvements in medical science are heavily taxed (in place through Obama care already - 10 per cent penalty) He will also decide what age you can no longer have heart pace makers, and other devices that until now was a decision between the senior and the doctors. Now it is on the federal goverment hands. What a stupid bunch of lies this writer spews.... Shameful...
Bong Sativa September 16, 2012 at 07:07 am
Mitt Romney is a smug,condescending & arrogant businessman whose repugnant rhetoric & bold-faced lies will be decisively rejected by the American people on November 6th ! He'll drag the Republican Party down with him in defeat & he'll become a political footnote hated by what remains of the party even more than they hate Obama ! His debate performances will be more embarrassing than his refusal to release all his tax returns,as he proves to be less Presidential & more inept than even his worst critics imagined ! Ironically his humiliating defeat will be more competitive than any other GOP White House hopeful for at least a generation as the party moves further right & inevitably implodes !
Frank Geefay September 16, 2012 at 02:37 pm
It is true that especially among Black American's there are seniors who have no proof of their birth or citizenship since many were born at home and did not get birth certificates. Such laws requiring proof of Photo ID are discriminatory unless a solution can be found to make it easy for them to obtain a photo ID in time for the election. All citizens born in the US have a Right to vote. Voting is a right, not a privilege. Thus accommodations must exist to make it Easy for them to obtain such ID. It should be the government's responsibility to provide photo IDs for these citizens if such ID is required for them to vote.
Voter fraud is so small that most states don't consider the effort worth perusing since a single vote has such little weight and voter fraud has stiff penalties. So it does seem suspicious that states requiring voters to require photo ID may have another agenda. Fake photo IDs are so easy to obtain that they are close to useless. As for Mitt Romney’s statements about the murder of our ambassador, he will be judged one way or the other by every word he utters just as President Obama has been judged since becoming president. He can no longer freely utter his personal feeling without carefully weighing the consequences. Being president is much more difficult than he can imagine.
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Mary Ann KannelyPuente May 24, 2013 at 09:24 pm
The other issue is if the Library is run by volunteers then union jobs will be lost. In other wordsRead More if the work can be done for free why pay someone.
Laura Case May 24, 2013 at 10:37 pm
Ken Simmons, I don't know who made you privy to the information that you have, but you should haveRead More checked your sources. The information you have posted here is inaccurate and misleading. Yes, it is due to budgets cuts and recommendations of the country fiscal advisor that all Library Clerk II positions have been eliminated, but note that it is all. And there was never a decision to pack up the books and put them in storage. On the contrary, the collection will stay intact, and will be covered and protected the same way it is every summer to prevent sun and dust damage. No parents have come forward to volunteer to run the library. Not one! And the decisions that have been made by the district are exactly that, the District's - the unions are not the problem here. If you want to stir up drama, try sticking to the truth, and try using it to make a difference and set things right for our students!
John May 31, 2013 at 11:42 am
Laura - I do not know what your position is or where your information comes from. With respect toRead More this particular issue, I have no knowledge, but as a former contractor whose kids went to public schools, I tried several times to clean up/repair/restore bathrooms, replace rotting windows and frames, etc. only to be told "NO", and not just no, but emphatically so. Only from the janitors and maintenance personnel could I find a rational reason, which was the protection of union jobs. Not really rational, however, as the maintenance people were all supportive of getting the work done (completely for free), as they admitted they would never,ever be able to get to it, even if they had the skills. Additionally, as a former tutor through the "No Child Left Behind" program, I think anyone would find it impossible to volunteer to do such a thing as tutoring - for pretty much the same reasons. Private schools thrive and blossom through the use of volunteers. Our area especially is overflowing with qualified people that could and would volunteer to help our schools. As the population ages, the available pool of potential volunteers will grow substantially. Many of the schools' problems could be addressed through the use of volunteers for everything from maintenance to kitchen help to tutoring and, yes, even teaching - god forbid. Will any of this happen? Not as long as the unions are primarily out for themselves and the districts are circling the wagons, both pretty much ignoring the needs of their students. Think about all of this the next time a school bond measure comes up. More money is not the answer. Far less money might help drive true results actually reflected in benefits to the kids.
R. Gabriner May 13, 2013 at 02:37 pm
Nice work Blanca. An excellent student in our program. Dr. Robert Gabriner, Director, EducationalRead More Leadership Doctoral Program San Francisco State University
Berto April 12, 2013 at 07:27 pm
From one of the interviews I watched online, it seems that many Saratoga High students knew whatRead More happened at the party and had seen the pictures. How is it that arrests did not follow the assault and the suicide for over 6 months? Could it be that the students who knew information about the felony chose to remain silent? I hope that is not the case; we will surely find out as the details of the case are revealed in the media over the next weeks and months. In the meantime lets make sure we are teaching our kids about the responsibility of living in community and caring about others. God forbid that any of the students have to live with the knowledge that they could have prevented the suicide, or with the knowledge that they helped cover up such a heinous crime.
Tamra~Kathleen April 13, 2013 at 05:51 pm
The offensive comment we're discussing shows a complete lack of respect for women that permeates ourRead More culture. That this person actually thought this poor young girl had culpability for her attack is a symptom of our societies disregard for women. I'm actually glad he made the comment so we can look at and discuss the problem.
Raymond Ruiz April 13, 2013 at 10:54 pm
It just don't matter how she dresses,whoo her parents are or aren't. Nobody and I mean Nobody hasRead More the right to rape or force a femsle to have sex with her,and then to make matters worse,they posted pictures of her on facebook ! Better we as a community should be asking,what would possess the young guys to do something like this ! That is why We have Our teenagers and kids passwords or no internet period ! As a parent my heart goes out to het and her parents !