"America's debt is rising. What's a mother to do? Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants a tax on retirement income. A tax on all stock market profits, retirement 401(k)s and mutual funds. She says it's to help 12 million illegals and other unemployed minorities. Is this woman nuts? Obama just passed a bill to give the U.N. a 7 percent universal poverty tax. That's $40 billion we do not have. There are only 545 elected people responsible for our woes - 545 pilots who can take off but can't land." - Clear Spring

"The BOE and the county workers are all government jobs, so why can't the county communicate with the BOE and say 'All the roads in the county will have salt on them by 10 a.m.,' and then the board can issue a two-hour delay. You can drive through two inches or even six inches of snow if you drive safely. Then they can make an educated decision and make the right decision and you won't have the BOE guessing." - Hagerstown

"To the person who said it would never happen, referring to Democrats taking guns and Republicans closing borders: If you would have asked my dad, he would have said the same thing about being able to smoke a cigarette anywhere he wanted to. Things happen because of the liberals we have in this country. The voters better educate themselves." - Boonsboro

"Why is the government even considering handing out taxpayer dollars to help Nora Roberts rebuild her properties? The fire was caused by human error, not a natural disaster. These are privately owned and privately insured properties damaged by workers contracted by Ms. Roberts herself. Why is it that the taxpayers may end up footing the bill for this mess?" - Boonsboro

"I'm upset that John McCain is apologizing for using Obama's middle name. If he can't use his name, then we really have problems in America, because we'll never be able to say anything." - Boonsboro

"I would like to know what happened to the Clear Spring High School state championship sign that was on the side of the road as you enter into Clear Spring from Hagerstown." - Clear Spring

"My question is not about gas prices, but rather where the gas stations get their gas from. Then maybe we can decide where to buy our gas, and not support stations that buy gas from the Middle East, like Shell, Chevron, Texaco, ExxonMobil, Marathon, Speedway and Amoco, and buy more like Sunoco, Conoco, Sinclair, BP/Phillips, Hess and ARC0." - Hagerstown

"For all the women who wanted women's rights in the '60s: Now you have a chance at having a female president with many years of experience, and you're messing it up. You're voting for the wrong candidate. You're a lot of talk. If you're into women's rights, vote for Clinton." - Hagerstown

"This is in reference to the sticker you have to buy for the landfill. When they sent out the letter, they state that the sticker is for that household, and not for your neighbors, rental properties or churches. It's for your own home." - Hagerstown

"I hope Hillary Clinton would quit staring into Obama's face when he's trying to speak. I know it throws him off like that, and it really aggravates me when I see her do that." - Boonsboro

"I've had the distinct displeasure of visiting and working on Maryland's Eastern Shore at various times over the last 50 years. Every time I return I think I may find some worthwhile reason to be there. Alas, I'm still turning over sand crabs and scraping barnacles from my rotting Criscraft, hoping to someday find something good there, aside from the only other two things I've found there to date. After saying that, I think Tim Rowland needs to back up and go to Smith Island and savor the only thing other than oysters that give justification for not disconnecting the west side of the Bay Bridge and allowing the shore to drift off to sea." - Smithsburg

"Many thanks to the Hagerstown Signal Department for resetting the demand signal at the intersection of Long Meadow Shopping Center, Northern Avenue and Hamilton Boulevard, so that when exiting the shopping center or Hamilton Boulevard the light takes forever to change. Some are running the light when there is no traffic. It's just a matter of time before there is a major accident. You might want to consider changing this light again." - Oak Hill Avenue

"I cannot believe that someone would object to helping a neighboring town. Did you have an emergency once and no one helped you, or are you just totally heartless? I think that it is wonderful that we are showing the compassionate side of our town. Please publish any needs that those willing to help might be able to supply." - Hagerstown

"I just wanted to give thanks to the snow plow operators and road crews of Washington County and the State of Maryland. I live in Hagerstown, and I work in Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. Every time that we get any type of winter weather I have no problem with my commute the whole way through Maryland. As soon as I get to the Pennsylvania line just past the former Fort Ritchie army base, it is like I am driving into a completely different region of the world. Even the main roads in that area are worse than the secondary roads in Maryland. I don't know whether we pay more taxes to pay for the extra plows or what, but I just wanted to say 'Good job' to everybody involved in keeping the roads safe during unsafe conditions." - Hagerstown

"One of the best improvements of the combined edition of The Herald-Mail is that readers who previously got the morning paper can now be informed of local happenings and events written up by the community reporters that were formerly only published in the afternoon paper. These writers do a fine job letting us know about things of interest that staff reporters may otherwise overlook, ignore or cast aside as not worthy of their time and talent. Let's hope the service that these dedicated neighborhood writers provide the readers is not stifled by staff censorship that is inexplicably applied to this column." - Washington County

"For the caller comparing the presidential campaign to the Super Bowl, and Eli Manning to Barack Obama, I would suggest he reconsider his logic, because let's face it, the Super Bowl is a football game, and I've got it on good authority Eli Manning's a ringer. He's played football before." - Smithsburg

"This is in response to the caller about McCain closing the borders, and the Democrats will never take the guns away from Americans. Obviously, you know nothing about history. You know nothing about Nazi Germany, you know nothing about the countries that have had this exact thing happen to them; had their right to ownership of firearms taken. If and when that time should come, and I hope it never does, you'll be one of the people who contributed to that happening by having your head stuck in the sand. Read your history."

"The recent Academy Awards had its lowest number of viewers in its history. No wonder - they're becoming more of a fashion show than an awards show. With the exception of Daniel Day-Lewis, I never heard of any of the other winners, and 90 percent of the movies of 2007 were duds. But my question is why didn't Julie Christie win the award as best actress? If anyone hasn't seen 'Away from Her' I would suggest that they do. It's a well-acted and expertly told story about Alzheimer's disease. It will help you understand." - Hagerstown

"Isn't it interesting that Del. Chris Shank is asking the governor for help in rebuilding Boonsboro? I presume the requested 'help' would be in the form of money - state tax money extracted from the poor overtaxed residents of Del. Shank's district; money provided by the tax increases Del. Shank so vigorously opposed. Amazing how quickly bipartisanship appears when a tight-fisted Republican needs a handout for his own district." - Hagerstown

"As a South High, all high school football fan, I'm with the kids at South High. I don't think the stadium should be named after anybody, the football stadium. Name it South High Stadium, as the kids want. They're the ones who play on it." - Hagerstown

"Putting serial numbers on ammunition is not a crimefighting plan, but a plan to take away our Second Amendment rights, by the far-left fanatics." - Sharpsburg

"I'm calling in reference to 'Exxon to fight Valdez damages.' It seems a shame that a company can announce a $45 Billion quarterly profit can't afford to pay $5,000. That is greed plus." - Hagerstown

"Congratulations to Coach Robertson at Goretti on his retirement. I have been retired 20 years, seen many home Goretti games and away games in the Catholic league. Also have attended a ton of basketball games in Washington County. A great coach who also got the best players to come to Goretti. With his leaving, I do not believe they will ever again be able to compete in a Catholic league. It appears to me that Goretti will have to be an independent team." - A baseball fan in Washington County

"I cannot believe in the paper that the County Commissioners are going into the real estate business. $5 million for buildings in the downtown area? What is wrong with these people? If we're in the real estate business, then change your position from commissioner to real estate, and let somebody else handle affairs of the county who's not such spend-minded that they spend all the county's money on real estate."

"I just want to comment on the article that was in the paper for Wednesday, Feb. 27, about renaming School Stadium. As an alumni of South, this has to get done. I'm getting tired of calling it School Stadium for all these years. Students have a good idea. Make a petition up, get the right name, rename the school stadium something else. I'm all in favor of it." - Hagerstown

"Finally one of these judges got it right and sentenced a sexual predator to life in prison." - Clear Spring

"I'm not naive about how many days a year the children have to go to school in this county here. I know it's 180 days. My point is with all the days they're off for snow days and they're supposed to make them up at the end of the year, the school might do one or two or three days and forgive the rest of them, so they're not getting 180 days of school curricula. I wish people would read them with care and understand what I'm saying. A lot of people read stuff into what you put in this Mail Call, and that's not right." - Clear Spring

"The New York Times running an article on the front page about John McCain that contained no proof of wrongdoings was as predictable as Ted Kennedy finding a bar at happy hour." - Hagerstown

"I'm just calling to say how proud I am to be living in the little town of Boonsboro. The fire last week that devastated our little town just showed how united we are here in this town. People coming to clean up and do whatever they can to assist, and help the people who lost their home, and get our town back together just really fills my heart. And a special thanks to Nora Roberts and her husband for doing what they do for this town and helping it strive through anything. We will come back, and I'm proud to say I'm calling from Boonsboro, Md."

"This is in response to the person from Antietam Furnace who said far-left liberals are one step away from communism. Far-right conservatives are one step away from fascism."