Retain Harry Reid

EDITOR:

Nevada houses the most important race of this election because the outcome determines Nevada's power in the national political arena.

Many analysts attribute Nevada's high unemployment rate to the recession, compounded by the fact that so many of the state's jobs have been in the leisure and hospitality sector, which is dependent on discretionary spending by Americans who have been doing less of that lately, and construction, which is off nationwide. Bankruptcies and foreclosures go hand-in-hand with high unemployment.

We should all be angered, concerned, upset as what has happened to our economy. The blame game is small comfort to those who lost their jobs , homes or business after all it is you and me. We did not pay attention to the deregulation crowd, the housing market making crazy loans. When American jobs where shipped out of the country, we thought well at least it's not mine.

We have every reason to be outraged and apathetic. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree, Reid is one of the most important and influential individuals in Washington D.C. because he holds the status of majority leader. As human beings, we like to pick a scapegoat and Reid has become the scapegoat for many Republicans.

Economists say there's plenty of blame to go around including the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates low, banks making risky loans, Wall Street playing economic roulette, and a general lack of oversight and hubris on everyone who wanted to believe home prices would keep rising.

Angle's absurd inventions show you her inclination on positions: Phase out Social Security as is and privatize it. Great idea let the Wall Street bankers invest for you. See any problem here? Eliminate the Department of Education. We don't need any mandates or regulation nor support. We are doing fine by ourselves, right? Nevada is ranked 50th in the nation for the quality of education. She opposes abortion in cases of rape or incest because a woman cannot be trusted with decisions about her own body, but that large multi-national corporations should have no regulation or interference whatsoever.

She claims Sen. Harry Reid voted to give "special tax breaks to illegal aliens." He did nothing of the kind. In fact, Reid sponsored an amendment to the comprehensive immigration bill in 2007 that made it clear that illegal immigrants remain ineligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income workers. This is not because I am a fan of Reid, but because electing Angle over Reid would be an even greater mistake.

Sharon Angle says if you elect me, I pledge to block the Democrat agenda by relying heavily on procedural shenanigans to obstruct and delay and grind the business of the denate to a halt. It's a starkly different definition of senatorial clout than the one employed by Reid, who is pledging to continue using his influence to deliver for the state.

Angle is a bad candidate overall. She has no clue what it means to be senator, unlike Reid.

Jerry Denis Sullivan

Minden