Misleading cartoon

The Trib’s Feb. 7 editorial cartoon contained a serious factual error. It depicted a fuel truck labeled “Social Security and Medicare costs” pouring fuel on a fire labeled “Deficits.”

For your information, neither of these programs has added one penny to the current deficit or the total debt. Social Security surpluses have actually reduced the debt by well over $2 trillion.

While it is true that Medicare outlays have exceeded tax revenues by a very small amount in recent years — 2 percent in 2008 — this shortfall has been fully covered by payments from the Medicare Trust Fund, which has assets in excess of $300 billion from prior surpluses.

If you believe otherwise, it’s because you have been repeatedly lied to by politicians and their corporate sponsors. This is what happens when free speech is sold to the highest bidder without regard for truth, honor or integrity.

Richard Turner

Hewitt

GOP: Show your plan

Democrats are going to present their health care plan, and the Republicans are going to present their plan to the American people during a Feb. 25 televised health care summit. This is so the American people can compare the two plans.

However, now the Republicans are backing out and don’t want to stand in front of the American people and compare their ideas with the Democrats. It is now clear that they have no reasonable plan and don’t want the American people to know that. They are using the excuse that because Democrats are showcasing their original plan, for some reason that isn’t fair.

Obviously they’re scared to show the American people their plan, and for good reason. That’s because some of them are talking about cutting Medicare and Social Security. They better be scared of what Americans will do to them then.

Jim Denton

Gatesville

Practice tests helpful

I disagree with Andy Sheehy’s Feb. 6 letter, which disputed the value of children taking practice TAKS tests recently in public schools.

The practice tests give teachers a chance to see where the children might be having trouble and where to help them more in their studies before they take the actual TAKS test. It also gives students a chance to know what the TAKS test is going to be like.

I am a grandmother of a third-grade student who took the practice TAKS test recently, and I think it really helps. Keep on with those tests.

Pat Johnson

Elm Mott

Apply the brakes

It seems Toyota and federal spending have encountered the same problem: The accelerator is stuck and, at the same time, the brakes don’t seem to work.

There is one big difference, however. The leader of Toyota realizes this is a problem and is moving quickly to fix it.

However, the leader of the federal government doesn’t see the problem the same way. He thinks we aren’t using the accelerator enough, and we ought to forget about the brakes.

Evidently, he doesn’t see the cliff ahead or realize that our children are in the passenger seats.

Greg Gardner

Waco