published: Friday, May 18, 2012

Why would anyone vote again for Obama?

Why would anyone in their right mind vote for four more years of what we just went through? I know, it's Bush's fault!

The stimulus was a disaster, even though our president said if we passed it unemployment would never go above 8 percent. Maybe he meant it wouldn't go below 8 percent. Then he rammed the 2,700 page health care bill through which will probably be found illegal by the Supreme Court. He admonished the court recently for even thinking about voting against his health care bill.

I have never seen a president more divisive and arrogant toward his constituency.

If you think gas prices and unemployment are high now, just give him four more years and you will long for these days.

A couple of weeks ago, when Obama whispered to the Russian diplomat to wait until after his re-election and he would have more flexibility, he meant that he would be able to dismantle our missile defense system.

He would also have flexibility to throw more taxpayer money at green energy like the company Solyndra where we lost $535 million in one year.

What we've seen in the last three and half years pales in comparison to what we will see in the next four if we put Obama back in office.

Saying "yes" to the Keystone pipeline should have been an easy decision, if Obama really wanted to help our energy situation but drilling on federal land since Obama took office is down 40 percent.

In this next election we have an opportunity to try and undo the damage to our country that Obama has done.

Rick Weber | Clermont

Restore Act is good for our environment,

It is disappointing to see how some elected officials in Florida are turning the pending Restore Act legislation into nothing but another election year fight.

This federal act requires the majority of fine money collected from British Petroleum for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster to go directly to Florida and other affected Gulf states. It is a sensible and equitable approach.

The U.S. Senate passed the Restore Act two months ago by a vote of 76-22 and with wide bipartisan support. But according to some newspaper accounts, some in Congress are jeopardizing the chances for the bill's final success with political posturing.

In the form passed overwhelmingly by the Senate, the Restore Act could be a major part of the long-term solution to the Gulf Coast's economic troubles. Let's hope all elected representatives will get behind this bill, which is good for both our environment and our pocketbooks.

Manley K. Fuller | Tallahassee

president of Florida Wildlife Federation