Editor,

I am saddened that the Daily Journal replaced the late Keith Krietman with Dwight L. Schwab as the weekend columnist (in response to Schwab’s column, "Start being a president for all the people” in the Dec. 15-16 edition of the Daily Journal). By doing so, the Daily Journal has replaced reason with right-wing partisanship.

Where was Lindsey Graham when President George W. Bush was taking the federal budget surplus he inherited from President Clinton and turning it into a deficit? He was voting "yea” like a good Republican supporting his Republican president. Lindsey Graham voted in 2005 against allowing the Health and Human Services secretary to negotiate with prescription drug manufacturers for the best possible prescription drug prices.

Schwab asserts raising the top tax rate back to the Clinton tax rate will most definitely hurt job creation. What proof does he have for that statement? There was plenty of job creation during the Clinton presidency.

Schwab asks when the country will be rewarded with firm and responsible leadership that benefits the entire country and not targeted constituencies. It seems to me that extending the Bush tax rates for 98 percent of Americans is a good start.

Why shouldn’t President Obama claim a mandate after winning back-to-back majority votes? George W. Bush claimed a mandate after winning the 2000 election without winning the popular vote. It seems to me that the ideological mumbo jumbo is coming from Schwab.

Timothy Jones

Belmont