What would the US be if it had more vacation days for workers and these in turn more income to travel? They would see the rest of the land and as a result more tourism jobs would be created for all the young people whose only chance in life now is to go into the military.

I live in Germany, where the amount of spending on the military is by no means close to that of the US. Germans have many available days for themselves, and if you look at productivity levels--do a Google search and you will find stats--they are now ahead of Americans.

The military is not the only option to be a leader. What about getting college graduates to teach young kids in poor areas and a chance to pay off tuition?

Liberals should propose programs and not just limit themselves to criticizing and analyzing.

If you need help, let me know!

Javier Ortiz

Düsseldorf, Germany

It's becoming less surprising that the middle and working class is struggling with working hard and not earning enough in return, or even finding work the best one can, but getting few results in job offers.

In a Democrat-led government, you see better job growth, and in a Republican-led government, you see more tax breaks.

Studies say that the logical thing to do to get the economy out of recession is to ending the war in Iraq, but the Bush Republicans are still determined to "win" a failed policy--whatever it means to "win" in Iraq.

Nick Rosen

Great Falls, VA