LETTERS: Bipartisanship essential to end recession, and more

To combat recession, we must cooperate

As stimulus funds were spent on rebuilding our infrastructure and saving jobs for teachers and police, Republicans cried that not enough money was going to help out small businesses.

They called for increased tax breaks for small business and funding availability to help them grow and create jobs. Now that Congress has been working on a legislative package to do just those things, Republicans are trying to block passage of this needed help .

What is it, really, that the Republicans want? Could it possibly be that they want to prevent any successes for the Obama presidency as a means of getting back into political power?

Doesn't anybody think for themselves? The American people are fed up with the lack of cooperation between our political parties.

It can't be possible that there are so many Republicans who don't want to help small business. If we are to succeed in getting our country out of this economic hole, we must work together for the good of the country, not for the good of the political party.

J.M. Fanelli

Hauppauge

Bats offer alternative

to pesticide spraying

Pesticide spraying to fight West Nile continues on Long Island . However, I have not noticed any difference in the number of mosquitoes as a result of the spraying. In fact, it seems that it has gotten worse.

The only real result has been the addition of more chemicals into our environment. No one knows for sure the long-term effects of these pesticides.

There is a simpler and far less expensive solution - bats. If bat houses were to be built in the Massapequa Preserve, bats would be attracted to the area and the mosquito population would decrease dramatically. One bat can consume more than 900 mosquitoes in an hour.

Unfortunately, bats have a bad reputation based on uneducated perceptions. Bats are very shy animals. They avoid humans, but they really love mosquitoes.

Dennis N. Franco

Massapequa Park

New voting machines have old problems

I just read about the "new" voting machines that will be put into use in Suffolk County . We are taking a step back in history by replacing easy-to-use machines with a more complicated method.

Is the Board of Elections trying to emulate the debacle that Florida experienced a few years go?

Robert Luna

Greenlawn