Use estate tax to fix nation's infrastructure

While Mr. Bush claims no one could have anticipated the catastrophe that occurred in New Orleans, I've read reports that this possibility has been know for a very long time and the federal government has been slashing funds for levy improvements around New Orleans for several years, the latest being a cut of funding proposed just a few months ago.

It is a disgrace that the federal government has neglected the basic safety needs of the American people and sent thousands of National Guard members for long-term assignments overseas performing duties the National Guard was never meant to perform, while rendering them and their equipment unavailable to assist at home, as was the purpose of the National Guard in the first place.

I grew up in Baton Rouge, just a few miles upriver from New Orleans, and visited that city may times during my childhood. The destruction and loss of life there is a national tragedy that resulted not simply from the hurricane, but from the failure of the federal government to prepare for the certain event that some day New Orleans would be hit.

Please vote against repeal of the estate tax and dedicate the funds from that tax to improving basic protective infrastructure here at home.

LANG BAKER

Sandpoint