Take time to study
your sample ballot
My wife and I have worked the polling places in Long Beach Township for about 15 years and have seen some strange situations. The next election could prove to be a most interesting one. On Nov. 6, we will have the presidential election, a school election and a local election, all on the same ballot.
There will be a large selection of candidates and a public question, and it is going to be a rather confusing ballot. Many voters are intimidated by the voting booth and the entire voting process. May I suggest you consider one of these options?
• Study the sample ballot that is mailed to each registered voter by the county Board of Elections. Preselect your candidate, mark up the sample ballot and bring it with you to the polling place as a reference.
• Or vote by absentee ballot. Every voter is offered this option when he or she receives the sample ballot. You simply mail in your request for an absentee ballot - no reason is needed. An absentee ballot is mailed to you; you mark your selections; you mail it back. It's that simple. No need to go to your polling district, no waiting in lines, no confusion, no intimidation, no embarrassment. It's that easy.
The vote for this election is anticipated to be a very heavy one, and that means that lines could be long and voters may have to wait. Your preparation will help make the process smoother, faster and less confusing. Regardless of how you vote or who you are voting for, I urge all registered voters to participate in this most important election.
HANK DiPASQUALE
Brant Beach
If voters were informed,
they would reject Obama
Based on my own reading of various polls, it seems that maybe only 60 percent of voters have a clear picture of President Barack Obama - the supporter of redistribution, and a proponent of the big-government nanny state where elitist politicians and government bureaucrats exert ever-increasing influence over how we live our lives.
Unfortunately, of that 60 percent, maybe one-third actually like what they see.
The other two-thirds, including me, will vote against Obama for just those reasons. We are striving to restore America as the beacon of hope and freedom in a world gone mad.
We understand that American exceptionalism was built on a foundation of individual liberty, not government interference. We realize that, over time, more government leads to less freedom.
Aided by the mainstream media, our president employs a thin veneer to shield his agenda from being clearly seen by all. Check various sources, including those that have been denigrated by the left.
We all need to know both sides of the issues. I've listened to the left's perspective, and it's easy to refute when armed with facts and a measure of common sense.
I'm confident that everyone who is fully informed will understand that another four years of Obama will accomplish exactly what he promised - to fundamentally transform America.
Evidence of this transformation is clear and disturbing and should sound the alarm for those who have yet to wake up.
LARRY PACENTRILLI
Ventnor
Biden lies for Democrats
on bin Laden and GM
Recently, Vice President Joe Biden, the Democrats' big mouth, stated that because of President Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden is dead and GM is alive. The fact is that the U.S. Navy planned and carried out the raid that took out bin Laden, and Obama did not dare say no. And General Motors is on life support. Or should I say "government support" with our tax money?
Because of Obama and the United Auto Workers, GM had to get rid of some of the finest cars, such as Pontiac, Oldsmobiles, Saturn and Saab. GM has a tough time competing with the Japanese cars flooding our own auto market, because these carmakers do not have to deal with the UAW and its ridiculous contracts.
TOM McGREGOR
Galloway Township
How dare Romney
denigrate so many of us
It isn't 47 percent - it's more like 99 percent. That's the percentage of Americans Mitt Romney does not deem worthy of the crumbs he drops for them to lick up. It's practically all of us, Mitt - just not all at once.
I have been working for 45 years. Since I actually work rather than coast off an inheritance or investments, I pay taxes at more than twice the rate Romney does. But once, I was working my way through college, earning too little to owe taxes. Soon, I will be retired, collecting on the Social Security I have paid into and needing Medicare to pay my health care tab.
There are wounded Iraq war veterans who are collecting their military disability and being cared for and rehabilitated by the Veterans Administration. Hopefully not forever. They certainly did not, to quote Romney, "believe they are victims" when they put on their uniforms and put their lives on the line to defend Romney's right to get rich and keep his own hands blood-free.
There are young parents, both working at least one job, who barely earn enough to provide a home for and feed their children - but they do work. The Earned Income Tax Credit makes the difference between working just above the poverty line or being on welfare below it.
Some are temporarily unemployed. And while unemployment benefits are only temporary, unemployment itself is a lot less temporary since Romney and his kind pioneered the concept of permanently sending American jobs overseas.
How dare Romney.
Corporate welfare, conned out of the productive by his lobbyists, is OK.
His own 60 percent tax discount on capital gains and carried interest is OK.
But helping ordinary Americans at those times in their lives when they (we!) need and deserve help is beneath him.
Romney should stop using Jesus Christ and Ronald Reagan as part of the Republican Party's banner. Both of them would find Romney's treatment of his fellow man beneath contempt.
WILLIAM E. DITMIRE
Egg Harbor Township
