Ode to Sky
One can never place God
in a preeminent space
without the sky.
The sky is a refuge
and morphs the fates transmutably.
Clouds and shadows
move as the mind moves.
The sky is a grand setting,
a contagious veil.
It mediates the water-clear crystal of the eye’s focus
to the hues of prismatic incandescence
and opens each and every living thing
to sensing the miracle of vision and space.
– Burt Baldwin, Ignacio
Obama owns flailing economy
To the editor,
In February 2009, President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus program was supposed to create 5 million jobs and reduce unemployment below 8 percent by the end of 2010. He missed both projections by wide margins.
Now, at the end of May 2012, unemployment is still above 8 percent and only 69,000 new jobs were created in May, the fewest in a year. When we add in people who have stopped looking for work the real unemployment rate is closer to 13 percent.
During Obama’s term, the national debt has increased by $5 trillion to over $15 trillion. The flailing administration has created extreme uncertainty in the private sector, which has depressed manufacturing activity and inhibited hiring. He has obstructed job creation by putting the Keystone pipeline project on hold. The Congressional Budget Office stated Obama’s health care bill will cost 850,000 jobs.
The latest reports show we could be in a stagnant economy and could possibly fall back into recession. Obama has been in office 3½ years, and he owns the faltering economy. As President Truman said, “the buck stops here."
– Donald A. Moskowitz, Londonderry, N.H.