I am writing in response to Dave Anderson’s commentary published by Boulder Weekly (“Washington must prioritize jobs, not cuts,” Nov. 22) as well as Anita Li’s letter (“The truth on Polis,” Nov. 29). What both Anderson and Li fail to understand is that living within our means and balancing our budget is not a conservative or liberal idea; it’s just common sense. When interest payments on the public debt crowd out more and more social spending, including the critical social safety net, I don’t see how that is consistent with the progressive goals of Mr. Anderson.
Balancing the budget comes under fire from the “have your cake and eat it” crowd on both the left and the right. Spending at a rate that far exceeds the amount of taxes collected can only work for so long. Sooner or later, the bills must be paid. And it’s a lot less painful to do so now, at a time when minor changes to revenue and expenditures can bring the budget into balance, than to stick our head in the ground and wait several more years only to face a much larger problem leading to draconian solutions that could cause tremendous harm to education, health care access, Medicare and Social Security.
Congressman Jared Polis/Boulder
BW story prompts support
The homeless couple featured in BW (“‘A hand up’ for Boulder homeless couple,” News, Nov. 22), Lexi and Chris, have announced the birth of their happy and healthy new daughter. All is well. They have housing and they are connected to all of the appropriate resources, thanks to the kindness and the generosity of the agencies and the volunteers in the community that we all are so fortunate to be a part of.
Lexi and Chris want to thank the people and the agencies in the Boulder community for the immediate assistance they have received as they prepared for a new addition to their family. They have received temporary housing and local families have delivered baby clothes and supplies. Their apartment rental fund is growing, and dad’s resume and employment search is well under way.
The Americans 4 Social Justice Organization is planning to make a group home available for people who have completed the self-improvement programs at a local shelter. This housing opportunity will be affordable, with portions of the cost being shared by the residents who will all be employed in occupations of their choosing. Within a reasonable time frame, they will achieve financial independence and move on to individual, independent housing. Others who qualify will take their place. This process will give everyone in the shelter hope for the future and the incentive to work toward their personal goal. We hope future news stories will feature the personal experiences of people who Americans 4 Social Justice has enjoyed the privilege of assisting on their path to a better life. This has been possible only because here in Boulder County there are so many hundreds of compassionate, energetic agency staff workers, advocate groups, religious groups, community volunteers, and citizens who without hesitation reach out to help people in need. Thank you all.
Donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 17356 Boulder, 80308, payable to A4SJ.
Mike Coccoli, Americans for Social Justice/Boulder
Fix the post office
It has long grated on me that the mail can’t seem to be delivered to all homes and businesses before, say, 1 p.m. Then the recipient could react or use those items related to business, if nothing else. If such would require postal employees to start work at 2 a.m., so what? Machines do nearly all the sorting now, or so I’m told. Or is the United StatesPostal Service so bogged down in “can’t” that it is not feasible for it to get out of its huge rut? After all, the outfit’s operational loss in the recent fiscal year approached $16 billion.
Pleasing the customer should be the be-all and the end-all. Doing what the customer wants might even get the USPS more volume. The USPS might start with earlier delivery while maintaining Saturday delivery, and then excising most if not all the junk mail, if the customer wishes to opt out. The USPS might look for ways to shorten the lines at the local post office, too. What business would long succeed if it ignored the priorities its customers embrace?
From what I’ve learned trying to deal with USPS war chiefs in the past, all the above is a hopeless pipe dream. Maybe it really is time to dump this wagon train. Maybe the natives would take it off our hands.
After that Manhattan deal, fat chance. Darn.
Gregory Iwan/Longmont
