In response to the column, "Who's afraid of the big, bad supermajority" (Nov. 4), while Ms. Small brings up good points to consider, including a government in which ALL of the representatives take their oath of office seriously, in our present dysfunctional system we see that the checks and balances don't really work; all we have are checks. Consider the State Children's Health Insurance Program vote from last year, one on which the overwhelming majority of voters agreed that spending billions of dollars over ten years was a good idea. It was defeated by the minority filibuster in the Senate.

I don't really trust Democrats, but the Republican-controlled government for the majority of the Bush administration has been corrupt and incompetent beyond reason. Every decision made by the White House was based not on the best national interests but on political considerations. Why, when Republican Pat Robertson controlled the Senate Intelligence Committee, did we not receive an assessment of the use of intelligence in the lead up to the Iraq war by the Bush administration? Many, many other examples abound.

I've heard Gov. Palin say that we should get over the past and look to the future. Yet the simple truth of life is that those who fail to learn from their mistakes will repeat them. Perhaps if we can remove all roadblocks to governance, the Democrats will make good on their efforts and will actually solve some of the overwhelming number of problems this country faces. And if they don't, there's another election in 2010.

David M. Spaar

Penn State Justice and Safety Institute staff member