Dear Editor:
A refutation of the October 10 letter to the editor appears to be in order.
The writer seems to indicate that the "Bush tax cuts" led to some part of the recession of 2008-09. He mocked Bush's statement that the tax rates led to record revenues. The Brookings Institution confirmed that 2007 revenues were the highest to the government since 1934, when statistics were first kept.
In that year, the government took in $2.57 trillion. Comparatively, the Congressional Research Service shows that the wars cost $185.7 billion in 2008. Furthermore, Social Security benefits paid were on the order of $584.9 billion. Does it sound like we have a revenue problem, or a spending problem?
His first step then says the Republican plan is to start more wars. I agree that war is abhorrent and should be avoided when possible, but sometimes for the security of our allies and ourselves, we must act. Will the world be safer with a nuclear-armed Iran, or will it be less safe?
Step two was about Medicare Part D, also supposedly "unfunded." The Medicare Board of Trustees calculated the cost of Medicare Part D to be $49.3 billion in 2008. Refer to my figures above to see that Medicare Part D didn't cause our problems. Furthermore, its relationship to Obamacare is not an apples to apples comparison. Obamacare is about forcing us to buy something we might not want, while Medicare is about supporting our seniors who apply for help.
Step three was about bubbles. The new bubble everyone in America should be deathly afraid of is the international debt bubble being created. The #1 holder of our treasury securities is not China, but Japan. Japan's public-debt-to-GDP ratio is 230%, a whopping figure. In other words, they're buying our debt but have extreme debt of their own. When this debt bubble bursts, it will be much more devastating to the world economy than the U.S. housing bubble.
Step four brings out the "tax cuts for the rich" argument. The CBO pointed out in 2005 that the rich pay a greater percentage of the federal tax owed AFTER the tax cuts (39%) than they did before them (37%.)
Step five was a laundry list of supposedly bad things, that aren't necessarily even being proposed. Balance the budget, yes. Privatize Medicare, not so much. Cut education and "No new schools in the U.S.!" has not been proposed by anyone.
Respectfully,
Joe McClellan
Warren