Dear Editor: Linda Turley-Hansen obviously couldn't resist ruining a good article ("Bigotry toward senior women primeval," Jan. 4, AFN) with her opening salvo against Hillary's alleged Marxism. Here's my challenge: read my letter on Limbaugh's economic distortions (same page as your column) and focus on Clinton's stock-market record. How could the stock market thrive for eight years under Marxist socialism? (I assume that you agree: Hillary's economic policy would parallel Bill's, with competent treasury secretaries like Robert Rubin instead of hacks like Snow and Paulson). Linda, have you ever read anything about Marxism? If so, I can imagine your eyes wandering over the page. But I can't imagine your brain engaged with the text. Once in while, it's enjoyable to take off ideological blinders and actually think. C.W. Griffin

In their increasingly desperate attempt to find something ideologically comfortable to blame for the credit crunch and recession, ’wingers have grasped at any conceivable economic flotsam. “Pay no attention to that iceberg,” they cry, “because something else sank this Titanic!”

When you’re put into city office by only a 14 percent voter turnout, it’s hard to point to direct evidence of what most of the community wants of you. In Scottsdale, the City Council tends to hear from two types of residents: Perennial complainers, which are few, and occasional complainers, which are many.

Regarding Dr. Tom Patterson's sermon praising the Ayn Rand kook, Paul Ryan's budget plan demonstrates his adamant determination to remain unconfused by economic facts.

Regarding Dr. Tom Patterson's sermon praising the Ayn Rand kook, Paul Ryan's budget plan demonstrates his adamant determination to remain unconfused by economic facts.

I have read in this (publication) a letter berating the general concern for our high national unemployment rate and at the same time suggests that corporations have no problem with the high unemployment rate and actually favor it for the cheap labor pool it produces.

"The current political personalities who are making decisions about the state's present and future are engaging in behavior that is wholly contrary to basic American values: education, economic opportunities, and the general welfare of its citizens. Strong public policies and programs have been replaced by ideology, selfishness and largely sect and religious fundamentalism."

WASHINGTON -- John Kerry, promising to create 10 million jobs and keep them in America, said Friday he would cut corporate taxes by 5 percent and eliminate tax loopholes that push jobs overseas.

The demise of Mervyn's department store gives Ahwatukee Foothills a concrete reminder of the parasitic plutocracy promoted by the Bush administration. Through predatory, unregulated financial speculation, three private equity firms destroyed Mervyn's, closing 150 stores and firing 18,000 workers without severance pay.

Scottsdale’s having secured San Francisco Giants spring training baseball through 2025 with the approval of a $23 million practice facility comes amid several incentivization wars in the East Valley over whether and how much public money should be used to attract private business.

In naming a new Federal Reserve Board chairman, President Bush went with the consensus choice and the betting favorite, Ben Bernanke.

As thousands of teachers begin to lose their jobs as a result of deep budget cuts, we are all paying much more attention to the state's budget crisis, and the tough decisions we, as a people, will have to make.

BEIJING - More than 1,000 people have been arrested or turned themselves in to police after deadly rioting last month in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, the city's deputy Communist Party secretary said.

The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) just released a report listing the best ways to create jobs in America.

"The Great and Mighty Oz, aka Rupert Murdoch's empire, is collapsing. It couldn't have happened to a more deserving person."

U.S. relations with Cuba are just marking time until the departure of two leaders, Fidel Castro from this Earth and George W. Bush from office in January 2009.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas formally took power Wednesday, with the Palestinian president swearing in a 24-member Cabinet that includes 14 ministers who served time in Israeli prisons.

Canadians gave Conservative Stephen Harper a victory in the Jan. 23 election, but no mandate. His party won 124 seats in Parliament, 31 short of a majority, meaning a coalition government with the inevitable compromises.

It’s ironic that the question would be raised about a system that has brought economic freedom and prosperity to so many. But the public image of capitalism always suffers during economic downturns. This time, populist conservatives have teamed with traditional enemies to slap around capitalism pretty badly.

Tom Patterson

As the Mesa City Council faces its biggest ever fiscal crisis, the choice before it has become crystal clear: It can ask voters to approve a permanent fix, or it can ask voters to approve a stop-gap fix.

The demise of Mervyn's department store gives Ahwatukee Foothills a concrete reminder of the parasitic plutocracy promoted by the Bush administration. Through predatory, unregulated financial speculation, three private equity firms destroyed Mervyn's, closing 150 stores and firing 18,000 workers without severance pay.

WASHINGTON - President Bush, working to recraft his strategy in Iraq, said Tuesday that he plans to increase the size of the U.S. military so it can fight a long-term war against terrorism.

HANOI, Vietnam - President Bush, on his first visit to a country where America lost a two-decade-long fight against communism, said Friday the Vietnam War's lesson for today's confounding Iraq conflict is that freedom takes time to trump hatred.