Albert Einstein said that insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Except for the richest 2 percent of Americans, it would be totally insane for any of the rest of us to vote Republican in the upcoming election.

When the Republicans last had control of the federal government they lowered taxes dramatically on the rich while at the same time starting two costly wars. Bush turned a Democratic budget surplus into a massive, staggering Republican budget deficit.

Young President Bush lowered taxes on the rich, created an administrative climate of deregulation, drove the nation’s economy off a cliff, created the worst recession since the Great Depression and came close to doubling the total federal debt.

Don’t compare the Democrats to perfection; compare them to the alternative, the Bush Recession. When Bush left office the economy was losing 750,000 jobs a month. Under the Democrats, we are now about breaking even or posting small gains some months. The Democrats’ economic first aid has stopped the bleeding.

Now give them a chance to permanently cure the damage created by eight years of Republican deregulation and tax breaks to the wealthy. No more insanity; we can’t afford it.

David Nielsen

Bainbridge Island