Predictable endorsement

I just got my July-August issue of Solidarity, and surprise, surprise: The UAW has endorsed Barack Obama.

After 37 years as a UAW member, it has become obvious that you people would endorse Attila the Hun as long as he called himself a Democrat.

Every election cycle it's the same in your magazine. Everything is the fault of the Republicans and the Democrats are going to save us all.
The Democrats have been in charge for two years and have done nothing to stop the job losses or the corruption and government waste. All they ever want to do is raise our taxes and then give it away on entitlements.

If you ever decide to endorse a candidate rather than a party, then I will lend some credibility to your publication. As of now, I think you're wasting good trees.

Dale Vollmers
UAW Local 1292 retiree
Mayville, Mich.

(Editor's note: The UAW evaluates candidates based on whether they support issues important to working families.)

Are you better off today?

Now that American auto sales have dropped to the levels recorded for new car sales in 1952 (when Harry S Truman was president), I begin to question some of my fellow UAW retirees who vote Republican every time the wind blows.

My question is this: Do you and I as retired UAW members want to continue down this same old rocky and slippery road we've all witnessed for eight years? Or do we finally wake up and take part in the biggest house cleaning at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in our nation's history?

Are you satisfied with the way our economy is headed? Are you satisfied with a bear stock market? Are you satisfied with a $660 billion war with Osama bin Laden still at large? What about those shaky corporate pension plans?

Finally, do you want a Wild West foreign policy where we shoot first and ask questions later?

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, the man who fired all of the PATCO unionized air traffic controllers for going on an authorized strike for better wages and working conditions: "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"

Don Corn
UAW Local 737 retiree
Nashville, Tenn.

Dems own guns, too

I don't agree with the thinking of the National Rifle Association (NRA) because they support Republican candidates.

I've known a lot of gun owners over the years who belong to the UAW, and they continue to vote Republican year after year because of the NRA's stance.

A good number of our UAW members helped George W. Bush get elected. Sad but true. I own guns, do not belong to the NRA and vote Democratic.

Tom Ferguson
UAW 1853 retiree
Culleoka, Tenn.