Remember damage of the Bush years

About 100 days left until the federal elections. Are you thinking about how you will vote? Did you send a contribution to a political candidate you like? Even a small one like $5 or $10? Do you read about or listen to IVI (Independent Voters of Illinois) or public TV programs about candidates and their views? Will you volunteer to help a candidate you like by stuffing envelopes, telephoning or distributing literature door to door?

I love to see these elections every two years. They are my version of the World Series or the Super Bowl. Results of a sporting event will quickly fade, but we will all live with the financial, environmental, social, international relations and military ramifications of an election for years.

Many folks will forget about those eight years of George Bush in which the U.S. deregulated everything from banking (later requiring a $750 billion government bailout fund) to environmental protections (resulting in more oil spills, shoveling away mountains in West Virginia for coal and destroying forests, wildlife and clean water in Appalachia). Deregulation of mortgage lending and collapse of the housing industry and home values. Packing the Supreme Court with people so extreme that they ruled recently that not only were corporations considered people under the Constitution, but also since corporations are people, they are now allowed to spend as much money as they wish to buy support for their candidates in elections.

I hope everyone will remember the Bush years that caused these hard times when voting. If you are worse off now, voting for more Bush philosophy type politicians will likely make things even worse. But if you are in the top 2 percent of the richest Americans, I completely understand why you want more deregulation and tax cuts for yourselves.

Jim Peterson

Hoffman Estates