Aid Package to Former Soviet Republics

President Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker have now revealed themselves to be the very liberals that they like to berate and belittle. They are liberal with our money when they arbitrarily decide to give $645 million of taxpayers’ money to the former republics of the Soviet Union in the face of an increasing and deepening economic depression in our own country.

The emptiness of the words--”I care, I really care”--expressed by President Bush is shown by this “generous” act of a gift, not a loan, to these republics. This aid could provide a $20,000-a-year job to more than 30,000 people on some sort of work program in this country like the old Civilian Conservation Corps. Bush and Baker seem to continue to live in some old world when the U.S.A. was not in debt, when unemployment was low, when there were few homeless people, when our prospects were great and when we could afford a “Marshall Plan.”

I feel sorry for the people in the former Soviet Union. They are in for some tough times. But that isn’t our fault and the non-debtor nations should take up the lead of our example and provide an equivalent of the Marshall Plan. It’s time for us to re-examine all of our foreign aid, cut back, and start some programs for our people or we will end up like the Russians.

RICHARD A. DAVIDSON

Sylmar