Federal Deficit and Revenue

In response to “Ponying Up,” editorial, Feb. 14:

To use an old phrase, “There you go again.” Your editorial makes a gross error in logic by equating the budget deficit with tax receipts. You note that the federal deficit increased between 1980 and 1991, and conclude from this that the Reagan tax cuts did not increase federal revenue. The fact is that between 1980 and 1989 total revenue increased from $517 billion to $990 billion.

It can be argued that the tax cuts were the stimulus that allowed the economy to grow such that these increases could occur. The budget deficit problem, on the other hand, is the result of unbridled government spending, nothing more, nothing less.

KIM M. BISHOP, Glendale