Dear John: How exactly is [Jan. 20 letter-writer] R.P. an idiot?
The Democrats don’t want higher taxes to pay for a ridiculously high amount of entitlements and noncitizens ? Really?
Cutting off entitlements to those who don’t deserve them is indeed a huge part of the spending problem.
I work extremely hard and pay very high taxes, have no pension and get no handouts. People like R.P. and myself are abused by this system by paying a lot of tax money to people and causes that are undeserving. I think your answer to him and your insult were way, way off-base. J.P.
Dear J.P.: R.P. blamed stupid and lazy people for our problems — period. And there will always be people who’ll game the system, folks who get benefits they aren’t entitled to, take jobless payouts rather than find a job, or use medical and food benefits they don’t need.
But that’s still a simplistic, myopic and — I suspect — bigoted view of our country’s problems. R.P. has a moronic opinion of America’s difficulties.
Has the national debt soared under the Obama administration? It sure has.
Has President Obama shown a particularly good sense of this country’s financial problems? Nope, he hasn’t.
Will his main initiative, ObamaCare, add to the country’s costs and hurt the economy? I believe it already has.
But the problems that the US faces are complex. Those “handouts” given out during the Obama administration went to homeowners who were about to lose their houses and who weren’t lazy at all. And the money went to people who couldn’t find jobs and weren’t able to feed their families.
Lazy people? There’s no indication that Americans — and the foreigners R.P. seems to blame — are passing up jobs just to stay on welfare.
And many people collecting benefits are the victims of demographics. They are too young to collect Social Security but too old to be hired by companies that want lower-earning young workers. Or maybe they are recent college grads who can’t find their first jobs.
And handouts also went to companies that Republicans and Democrats decided to bail out. Was the help given to the auto industry and banking a mistake? Some of it probably was. Some not.
Should we have fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? That’s where a lot of your, R.P.’s and my hard-earned money went.
Medicare. Social Security. Homeland security. Which would you like to cut? These are some of the biggest drains on our tax dollars. I also work for a living. And I’m frustrated — frustrated that Washington needs to take more and more of my money to help people who aren’t as fortunate or lucky as I am. I wish everyone could find jobs and stop needing my money.
But I also don’t want to step over the bodies of homeless, hungry people or look at children who live in shelters.
I hope now you understand why I called R.P. an idiot.
Dear John: The arrogance and irresponsibility by Congress on so many crucial matters are mind-boggling! You know the issues better than most: the debt and deficit, fiscal-cliff crisis, Hurricane Sandy relief, gun control to name a few.
I wonder when citizens will have had enough of taxation without representation while Congress remains in a hostile stalemate as lobbyists and growing militant fringe groups take over the welfare of the country. M.M.
Dear M.M. You must think I’m a Mayan! You want me to give you a date when citizens will have enough? OK, Sept. 30, 2016.
I’m kidding around, but I think you captured the essence of all our frustration.
Send your questions to Dear John, The NY Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com.