CHEERS: to Plattsburgh resident and attorney Lori Cantwell, who wrote a letter to Rep. John McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor, on a matter important to her and to many: "... I am contacting you to beg that you navigate the current financial institutional mess in a way that will empower the taxpayers and not reward failed and greedy business strategies. Specifically, I humbly believe that to the extent taxpayer money is to be tendered for a solution, then the money should be given directly back to the taxpayers to be applied toward or pay off their mortgages. This would reintroduce the necessary capital back to the financial institutions while directly relieving the taxpayers of some of their debt burden. Seven hundred billion dollars divided among 300 million people goes a very long way, and the reality is that probably much less would be needed to resolve this crisis. It is my deepest concern that money given directly to the financial institutions in the form of a loan, stock share purchase or other, will result in taxpayers having to pay for both that spending as well as their own debt obligations. I am certain that I am not the first person to have raised this solution, but it bears merit in concept and does far more for the taxpayers while also providing relief to financial institutions. Your consideration in this matter is greatly appreciated." This letter was written before it became apparent that the benefit of the bailout to each adult in America would amount to only a few hundred dollars. Nevertheless, the point of the Cheer is this: If more people took the time and made the effort to communicate concerns and ideas of this kind, instead of doing nothing and then criticizing, our representative government would work better.

JEERS: to the anonymous writer of the following proposed Letter to the Editor (which we won't publish as a letter because it is anonymous):

"... I think it is ridiculous that senior citizens have to pay school taxes in which they have no children in school. I think after taxpayers' children are no longer in school they should not have to pay school taxes. The senior citizens have enough to worry about with their medical and cost of living, fuel prices and heating cost. They do not make the income they once had when their children once went to the schools. ... With the wasteful spending, using school taxes to build a new stadium for football, in all reality they already had one and just need renovations on it. That is where the money goes that senior citizens cannot afford. It is time for a new bill to be put into place exempting all senior citizens from paying any more school taxes. It is time to stand up and put a motion into place, help the senior citizens get out of paying another ridiculous tax. ..." The writer misses two important points: Senior citizens enjoy profound tax relief in the form of STAR, and they benefit from the fruits of an educated public, just as everyone else does. We're sympathetic with their tax problems, but exempting them altogether would make the burden for all others impossible to bear.