I was reading a front-page article in the Sun Journal, “Cuts, taxes, doom bill” (Oct. 2), that was in reference to a jobs bill to try to get this country out of the recession — a bill proposed by President Barack Obama but strongly opposed by Republicans.

I was struck by a comment that was in the continuation of the article: “Republicans see opposing Obama as good politics. The Republicans have no stake in handing the president a victory in the next 12 months.”

It is incredibly sad to see that Republicans would rather bring this country to its knees, rather than let Obama win passage of a bill that would help people get back to work. Their only hope and objective while in office is to see Obama fail.

Where are the true statesmen in the caliber of Republican Sen. Richard Russell, or Democratic Sen. Everett Dirkson; or Maine’s own Republican Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, or Democratic Sen. George Mitchell, who sought to bridge gaps in Congress for the betterment of the country, versus the rampant political back-biting that exists in Congress today, where nothing is accomplished?

Jim Bossie, Lewiston