Hi,

I am reading David McCullough's Truman, and really enjoying the nostalgia of a time when folks thought the government helped us and stood for those who elected it.

I have much to thank the government. My livelihood, for instance. I can work as a researcher not only because of years of moral support by my family, very hard work and part-time jobs, but because, as a widowed mother of two, the government temporarily provided me with Social Security death benefits and Stafford loans. I could not have done it without that support.

So I am not sure what "answers" my dad is criticizing in this forum, but I don't see having a hard work ethic and receiving government support as incompatible. I think it's great if people are fortunate enough to pay for higher education through the money they receive from their own earnings and family support, but I do not see anything wrong with helping those without that money by using tax dollars. It would seem to help the whole society.

I also use government roads, and work in offices regulated for safety and health by the government. I pump gas from station pumps calibrated by government workers, and I have been glad to attend public schools provided by taxpayers. I live in a city with many services planned and supported by civil servants and volunteers. I keep my money in banks insured by federal agencies, and I can track investments and the companies in which I invest because of government agencies. I use the Internet and various health care innovations developed through government support of research and development. In fact, I work at one of the first nodes on the Internet, and my boss served on a research team that gave us HDTV. Do any of you ever use a computer mouse? Thank Doug Engelbart, the visionary researcher who prototyped it through government grants in the 1960s.

I guess I will stop now and get back to Truman. Happy Holidays and here is to the hope that we all can appreciate how much we help each other and how government can be a positive part of that equation.

Louise Yarnall