Don't Forget Our Troops Now Fighting in Iraq

According to Rep. Frank LoBiondo's guest column (DJ-6/8), he supports the Millville School District participating in the national Veterans' History Project. In a nutshell, the school kids interview and record oral histories of surviving veterans from World War II to Gulf War I. A very worthwhile project and I commend Mr. LoBiondo for his backing.

One has to wonder what the Gulf War II veterans might be saying years from now. Will they tell about inadequate equipment, the effects of improvised bombs on their comrades, extended tours of duty and forced multiple tours of duty? Will they connect their mysterious illnesses to the use of depleted uranium weapons? Will they remember scavenging vehicles destroyed by these weapons for armor to protect their HumVees? I hope they do not get treated like former veterans afflicted with Gulf War Syndrome and Agent Orange.

Mr. LoBiondo voted to conduct a preemptive war in which the cost in lives and dollars is mostly borne by the United States. Compared to Gulf I, which cost us about $7 billion and about 150 killed, Gulf II has cost us 1,700 lives, $300 billion so far and the end is nowhere in sight. Will the veterans ask how many lives might have been saved with a true world coalition?

Mr. LoBiondo also voted against an amendment to the bankruptcy legislation that would have made an exception for reservists and National Guardsmen serving in Iraq. Under the law as passed, those people will be treated just like any debtor who habitually abuses the bankruptcy laws.

Will the veterans who lose their small businesses and houses talk about Mr. LoBiondo missing an opportunity to support them and choosing instead to support the banking and credit card industries?

Nick Reina

Milmay

Letter Published in Daily Journal, June 27, 2005

http://thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050627/OPINION03/506270322/1014/OPINION

LoBiondo Ducks Bush "Fix" on War

"The fix is in.'' That phrase, popular in old movies about crooked politicians helping out the bad guys, is sure to find renewed significance as Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., continues his relentless drive to further uncover the equally relentless duplicity of the Bush administration. Eighty-eight congressmen have signed a letter asking pointed questions of Bush and his right-wing cronies about the deception used to rally Congress and citizens to support this senseless Iraq war. As the Downing Street memo and subsequent documents have confirmed, the "fix'' was indeed in.Missing from the list of signatories is our own Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd. With more casualties from New Jersey than from 11 of the 16 so-called "coalition'' countries combined, maybe our representative will finally exercise some courage and support an investigation of this administration and, more importantly, a clear plan to extricate our troops now. Or will LoBiondo "duck and cover'' until he sees which way the political wind is blowing, and then do the right thing only when his vote makes no difference, as he did with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil leases? I think we know the answer.

RICHARD GRZYWINSKI

Galloway Township

Letter published in Atlantic City Press, June 25, 2005

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/columns/062505LETTSSATJUN25.cfm

Again and Again, Bush Blames the Messenger

In typical Bush administration fashion, the Pentagon released a report after the last news broadcast June 3 that the Newsweek story, while wrong about the example concerning the mishandling of the Quran, was correct about the practice. Also detailed were numerous incidents of abuse committed on prisoners as well as on the holy book of Islam. The report came as a result of an investigation conducted by Brig. Gen. Jay Hood, Guantanamo Bay detention center commander.It is not the first time this administration has chosen a late Friday, a weekend or even a congressional recess to release bad news, rescind an environmental regulation or even appoint a judge that could not be approved following the usual process. We now have another incident in which this administration has been proven to be less than forthcoming. White House spokesman Scott McClellan spoke for President Bush on the following day in an effort to control the damage from the previous day's release. According to McClellan, there were only a few incidents caused by a very few individuals. This flies in the face of a recent report by Amnesty International about rampant prisoner abuse in Guantanamo. The message always seems to be the same: Trash the messenger. We might accept that one messenger, maybe two, were in error, but there have been too many messengers to discount. It is very difficult to discount former prisoner accounts, photos of actual abuse, accounts by former guards and interpreters, news stories from reputable news media as well as reports from international agencies such as the Red Cross and Amnesty International. Are we supposed to believe that everyone is lying but President Bush? I think President Bush has asked us to trust him more than once too often.

NICK REINA

Milmay

Letter Published in Atlantic City Press, June 16, 2005

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/columns/061605LETTERSJUN16.cfm

War, Tax Cuts Hurting Medicare

A recent article discussed cuts in Medicare funding that force patients to go to nursing facilities after surgery instead of rehabilitation hospitals. Under the new rules, you must be over 84, extremely obese or have at least two joints replaced before rehabilitation will be covered.

Bacharach Institute for Rehabilitation, one of the finest such centers in the state, has had to cut 42 employees since April. This is devastating for those employees and the institute, but no less so for the patients.

These Medicare cuts are directly attributable to the billions of dollars spent funding the war in Iraq and almost $2 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy. U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, has stated that he was opposed to the Medicare funding change, but with his votes for every tax cut and every new appropriation for the war, as well as support for President Bush's budget, which includes cuts in Medicare funds, did he not understand the consequences of his actions?

This fiscal irresponsibility has negatively affected not just Medicare funding, but all areas of human services, from children to veterans.

BETTIE J. REINA

Milmay

Letter published in Atlantic City Press, June 15, 2005

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/columns/061405LETTERSJUNE14.cfm

Saxton, LoBiondo Let New Jersey Down

Last year, the state of New Jersey passed legislation funding stem-cell research in response to the needs and wishes of its citizens. Yet, recently, Reps. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, and James Saxton, R-3rd, both voted against federal legislation supporting stem-cell research in defiance of the will of the people.

In 2004, 80 Nobel Prize winners urged President Bush to support the funding of new embryonic stem-cell research that could alleviate human suffering in millions of people. If this research had not been blocked 20 years ago by President Reagan, the spinal-cord injuries of our soldiers in Iraq today would most likely be treatable along with several other major diseases.

Scientific facts are stubborn things. Whatever the personal beliefs, wishes or passions of LoBiondo or Saxton, they cannot ignore or alter the state of scientific facts and vote against the people as they have done.

It was their duty to support the majority, and they both let us down. We need representatives with imagination and foresight. Their indifference will cause them to lose our respect and support.

MURRAY GEGNER

Margate

Letter published in Atlantic City Press, June 11, 2005

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/columns/061105LETTERSJUNE11.cfm

The Daily Journal Does PR for LoBiondo

Editor's note: This letter is regarding Rep. Frank LoBiondo visit to St. Mary's Regional School in Vineland (DJ-6/4).

It is hard to believe this puff piece made it onto A3 (lead story) of The Daily Journal. Is the newspaper doing Mr. LoBiondo's public relations for him? The paper is notable for its lack of critical analysis when it comes to Cumberland County's native son, but this is carrying it too far.

The reporter noted that the students asked a number of questions, but she did not report on the congressman's reply. For example, questions about the war: Was Mr. LoBiondo honest in reporting how many American soldiers have died (nearly 1,700), how many have been seriously wounded, and how many innocent Iraqis have been killed? Did he decry the use of the term "collateral damage" to describe loss of Iraqi life? Did he talk about the White House skewing intelligence about WMDs to drive us to an unnecessary war? Did he abhor the fact that Iraq has now become a hotbed for terrorism, a status it did not have before we invaded the country? Did he say when our people can come home?

Did the representative of "about 650,000 people" explain that, when he stands next to our servicemen and women in a false show of support, he voted against exemptions for them in the new "Bankruptcy Reform Act"?

Did Frank LoBiondo explain why he voted against stem cell research that may benefit the living, or voted for the federal government's intrusion into the very private Schiavo case? Did he explain why he supports the Catholic notion of "the culture of life," but also supports war and capital punishment?

Did Mr. LoBiondo explain that, while he voted against drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), he cast a rather safe vote in what was otherwise a foregone conclusion? Did he bring any votes with him? Did he take out full-page ads himself? Did he place his resistance in the Congressional Record? Did he stand on the steps of the Capitol and speak out against his fellow Republicans who want to plunder this priceless and pristine refuge? No. Representative Frank LoBiondo will have to do more for us than "introduce his dogs" to keep "his constituents happy."

Shame on The Daily Journal for not asking those questions. And shame on Mr. LoBiondo for not having better answers.

.

JANET L. FAYTER

Egg Harbor Township

Letter published in The Daily Journal, June 7, 2005

http://thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050607/OPINION03/506070326/1014/OPINION

The Right Always Sees Media Bias

Regarding the May 26 letters grouped under the heading, "Newsweek story revealed media bias":

Your letter writers were incensed that a story about flushing a Quran down a toilet was published and later retracted because Newsweek's U.S. government source couldn't remember where he had seen the report of the incident - one of many similar reports in the past two years. This may be sloppy journalism, but it hardly qualifies as media bias. Unfortunately, any story, true or false, that challenges the Bush administration constitutes media bias to these folks. And we're still hearing the same old crap about "treason," America-hating and troop slander that they've been spewing since the Iraq war began. How about publishing a few letters under a heading like "Bush lies and distorts intelligence to start unjustified war"? Recent documents obtained from the British government clearly show that our leaders lied blatantly and continuously about the need for war. This is not new information, but it is rock-solid, smoking-gun quality stuff, and I don't see the biased media doing anything with it.

JAMES F. McCARTHY

Ocean City

Letter Published in Atlantic City Press, June 6, 2006

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/columns/060605MEDIALETTSJUN6.cfm

Where is the Investigative Reporting?

I've been wondering what happened to good old fashioned investigative reporting? We used to trust the media to do their homework and root out the truth, but they have been cowed by the knowledge that criticism or questioning of the secretive Bush administration leads to being cut-off from any further information. In years past, that would have infuriated journalists and emboldened them to dig deeper, not so today.Where were the front page stories questioning the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq? Didn't reporters wonder why our President disagreed with the rest of the world, why he was in such a hurry? Now we have proof, out of Britain, that he was already planning to invade and merely needed a rationalization, nonexistent WMDs met that need. How about the billions of dollars that were to be used for rebuilding, now missing, and the work has barely been started? Where is that money and why is there no longer any mention of it?Why does our military have to pay private suppliers inflated prices? With their profit a percentage over cost, where's the incentive to keep those costs down? We have been overcharged for everything from tires to cleaning services to food preparation. That was Rumsfeld's grand scheme, use private contractors to save the military money, but instead, it assures exorbitant profits to the suppliers. After numerous investigations, and before assessed fines are even paid, larger contracts are awarded to those same businesses.How many articles have you seen on the off shore tax-havens being used by American corporations, including oil companies? Who's writing about the assault on the environment that has led to overturning hundreds of rules and regulations put in place by every presidents since Teddy Roosevelt? Or why do we hear nothing about the Bush family members who are receiving large salaries from defense contractors, including Halliburtin subsidiaries?If this were a Democratic President, Congress would be falling all over themselves setting up panels to investigate and prosecute. With one party rule leading to very little oversight, who can we depend on to report the truth if the media abdicates its responsibility?

Submitted by BETTIE REINA

Milmay

DeLay Misleading in Stem Cell Fight

Use of the word "embryonic'' in the ongoing stem-cell debate is misleading. The human egg becomes an embryo when it implants in the mother's uterus five to six days after fertilization. Since the development of human tissue morphology begins at implantation, the implanted embryo is not optimal for the harvesting of stem cells. The stem cells with greatest medical potential develop within eight divisions, before the fertilized egg implants. The "emerging human embryo" then consists of 256 cells, some of which form the inner membrane of a one- to two-tenths of a millimeter shell called a blastocyst; the remaining cells - in a cavity within this tiny living shell - are the stem cells to be harvested.Since no morphology occurs in the blastocyst, no blood exists, there's no other tissue in this assembly of cells, no limbs, no nervous system. Consciousness cannot exist; there's no possibility of human sensibility, no beating heart. Stem-cell research does not involve "the dismemberment of living, distinct human beings," as Tom DeLay described it before the U.S. House of Representatives.

CHARLES A. ANDRADE

Galloway Township

(Editor's note: Charles Andrade has a doctorate in engineering and a master's in physics. He was a senior research scientist with the Martin Marietta team that designed the Viking Lander to find life on Mars.)

Letter Published in Atlantic City Press, June 4, 2005

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/columns/060405LETTSSATJUN4.cfm

LoBiondo Can Do Better

On May 19, The Press ran a full-page ad paid for by the Alaska Coalition thanking U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, for voting against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. While I agree that LoBiondo did a good thing by voting against the bill, it would have been more courageous had his vote been the deciding vote to kill the bill.

Instead, it passed the House by a margin of 249 to 132. His vote one way or the other mattered little. It did, however, get him some good PR in southern New Jersey.

Looking at the rest of LoBiondo’s record on a myriad of fiscal and religious/moral issues, he is not looking after people’s interests very well. He did not do much for average Americans with his earlier votes supporting tax breaks for the wealthy and subsidies for big business, nor with more recent votes to interfere in the Schiavo case and to help banks and credit-card companies take advantage of people with catastrophic debt.

Let’s also remember his vote for the $500 billion giveaway to the drug and insurance companies for a Medicare drug benefit that forbids the reimportation of drugs and forbids the federal government from using its power to buy in bulk discounts.

As Thomas Hart Benton noted: “There are but two parties. There never have been but two parties, founded in the radical question, whether people or property shall govern?’’ While LoBiondo’s single vote on ANWR came down on the side of the former, it is clear that more often he is on the side of property (and wealth) and against the people.

The interests of middle-class conservatives and moderates might be better served by a representative who does not vote with the extreme right-wing agenda of the Bush administration more than 80 percent of the time.

LARRY ANGEL

Mullica Township

Letter published in Atlantic City Press, June 2, 2005

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/columns/060305LETTSAT2J4.cfm

Memorial Day

Monday morning, I woke up sad and feeling frustrated and disillusioned. Although we had other plans, we decided to attend a Memorial Day parade to honor our military, past and present. In previous years most parades included far more Reserves and National Guard, but seeing so few reinforced the reality that many of South Jersey's Military are still in Iraq or Afghanistan.I'm frustrated because I don't see an exit plan to bring them home to their families. Many of whom are living under difficult conditions, with bills to be paid in spite of less income, and some self employed soldiers losing their businesses. Not all of our people have received proper armor for themselves or their vehicles and when they come back injured it's to overcrowded hospitals. In addition, about a third of all returnees have post traumatic stress disorders because most young people can't go through wars like this without being damaged. That is not a criticism of them, but an affirmation of their humanity.I'm disillusioned because I expect so much more from our government and our people, at the very least honesty and tolerance. When you point out that Iraq did not attack us, had nothing to do with 9-11, and was being contained, you are called unpatriotic and a Bush basher. Now we know, from official government papers in Britain, that our leaders had early plans to invade Iraq and only needed to rationalize it, with WMDs serving that purpose. Most of our troops were then pulled from Afghanistan where they were fighting our real enemy.Representative Frank LoBiondo voted to support the President on the invasion and for all additional appropriations to fund the Iraq war. On May 25 he helped defeat an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill, merely a request for the President to consider a timetable to bring the troops home. In addition he has supported deep tax cuts for the wealthiest of us, which has contributed to a record national debt, making it even more difficult to support our troops and leading to cuts in funding for veterans.The more I learn about LoBiondo, the more I wonder if he is our Representative or Bush's?

Submitted by BETTIE J. REINA

Milmay