Niel Young

To the editor:

I have been so thankful to have been born in America and, especially, Laconia.

That is why when there are those who choose to do wrong by the people of my country and city, the “activist” in me speaks out.

One can refer back to a column by syndicated columnist DeRoy Murdock in January of 2004 to gain input into why my displeasure with the leadership (or lack of) by President George W. Bush caused me to stay home and not participate in the “first in the nation primary.” The Republican National Committee was working hard to get the president a big vote.

I have always supported the troops and the mission in Iraq following September 11, 2001. Unfortunately, President Bush chose to fight a politically correct war — a decision that has not been fair to our men and women in the military who serve proudly.

Other reasons for not being involved in the 2000 presidential primary include W’s failure to do anything meaningful with Social Security reform — allowed spending that no Republican should have allowed — and most of all this president has chosen to ignore the influx of illegal aliens from Mexico, which has included persons from countries whose mission it has been revealed to do us harm. And now he wants to reward these illegals with amnesty and a key to our social security system.

Bush is the reason nationwide that Republicans and Independents went to the polls Nov. 7 and voted for Democrats — to send Bush a message: you are not on the ballot but you will pay!

No, my state and country will pay for his actions; and now he is so hungry for a legacy, he is willing to do anything to get his approval numbers up prior to leaving office.

As for my city, Mayor Matt Lahey (the man who recently made derogatory remarks towards me which have since been disproved) is at again as he is upset that, “Somebody wants us to be like Raymond. But we don’t need to be like somebody else.”

Thanks to Ed Engler of The Laconia Daily Sun, we have been made aware of an alternative that would give the school board the new building at a reduction in cost to the taxpayers.

Matt was a leader in spending $4.5 million for the Lakes Business Park which I consider nearly a complete failure without the “new and higher paying jobs” for Laconia/Gilford. He championed a $76 million dollar new high school on the outskirts of our city, and when that failed he decided to build a new middle school at somewhere between $23 and $28 million, depending on who you ask.

Every time one of our local politicians sees an opportunity for the “legacy thing,” we pay. Wouldn’t it be an improvement if our city government might be like somebody else once in awhile, like maybe considering how another community was able to complete a project at a lower price tag?

Are Bush and Lahey taking my country and city in the wrong direction?

Niel Young

Laconia