Letter: Politicians not cutting it

California is currently facing a $16 billion deficit, and the United States is facing a deficit so large that it has never been seen before. California Democrats will not even consider cutting social programs, and Republicans are not even remotely interested in raising taxes. Congress is spending money like drunken idiots told they have only a day left to live.

Also, we are told that Obama needs to talk to his wife and children before he can decide his position on gay marriage. He decided that he was, indeed, for it (although he was against it in 2008). So, it got me to thinking that, if a Republican was posed the same question and had a change of heart ("I was not for it in 2008 but I am for it now”), the media would have had a field day and we would be reading about "the Republican gaffe” for the next three days.

The Employment Development Department, under the Keep Your Home California program, has sent to those who are currently receiving unemployment benefits and have a mortgage a letter stating that, provided they meet certain criteria (one of which is that the person is currently receiving unemployment insurance benefits), the program will pay for the mortgage payment for nine months; however, if the benefits run out, the program will stop paying the mortgage. So, the person not only has lost their unemployment benefits but now has to pay their own mortgage again.

Am I the only one that has a sinking feeling that the other shoe just may be close to falling? What do we need to do to get the politicians to work together for the betterment of all Californians and the nation, because, right now, they are not cutting it.

Joe Simoni

San Mateo