Time to take care of people here at home

Last night I was out walking my dog, it was around 11 p.m., raining cats and dogs and very, very cold. Recently there were two news stories that I heard on the radio, the first being that 80 percent of the homeless on the streets of New York City are veterans and that the number of homeless children on the streets of New York City has risen dramatically over the recent past.

Just walking my dog I was extremely wet, chilled, uncomfortable and I could not wait to get back into my warm house. While I was out in that inclement weather for just a short period of time, I could not help but think about how our country sends young men and women off to war and when they return home, they are forgotten and discarded like a pieces of rubbish.

And how could our government politicians be spending so much money on the war effort (which has produced no true positive results), be sending money off to foreign lands for aid, support and assistance, and still allow children to be wandering the streets of the greatest city in the modern world, homeless, without food, ample clothing, shelter, etc.

I am proud to be an American, I am so grateful for the freedom which we have in the United States and that thank goodness my wife and I are able to provide for our family, yet when I think of the homeless (not only on the streets of New York City) but throughout this great land of ours, it makes me very angry and frustrated that things truly are very upside down.

May there come a day when the leaders of this great land stop thinking about themselves, the people of far away lands and start providing for all of those less fortunate who are unable to provide for themselves in this great land of ours.

Stu Gleich

Marlboro