Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I watched the Homecoming Parade and seeing all of the beautiful young people marching and looking so enthusiastic, I wondered how they would look with a backpack filled with one dollar bills in which they carried their personal share of the national debt. So I calculated the weight of $52,000 in one dollar bills and it comes out to be about 114 pounds. It is obvious to me that our generation is piling on more debt than our children can physically carry.

If you witnessed a child trying to carry a 114-pound backpack you would instinctively try and help them with the load. I would urge you to help them in the following manner: 1) Get involved in the political process; 2) Take a few hours and study the issues, and 3) Make sure you vote!

If you base your vote on your own good judgment after analyzing the issues and not on some blind duty to a particular political party, then the country and your children will be better off. Our nation’s future lies in the collective wisdom of the citizens and not on any political party. The best answer to our financial problems is to put handcuffs on the politicians by passing a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Garr Johnson

Gloucester, Va.