Tax Increases to Lower the Deficit

Tom Bethell’s column, “Clinton Falls Fast for the Beltway Trap” (Column Right, Feb. 7) contains a 180-degree misinterpretation of the position of Deputy Budget Director Alice Rivlin, whose deputy I was when she directed the Congressional Budget Office in the 1970s. His careless inaccuracy throws his whole column into doubt.

Bethell writes that “Those who would like to concentrate more power in Washington are well represented in the Clinton Cabinet--Budget Director Leon Panetta and his assistant Alice Rivlin come to mind.” I cannot vouch for the Cabinet or Panetta, but Dr. Rivlin’s last book, “Reviving the American Dream: The Economy, the States, and the Federal Government,” is devoted precisely to ways and means of moving power and funds from Washington to the states.

Dr. Rivlin is, in fact, from within the Beltway. I have some problem with her view because I think she idealizes the states; perhaps it takes a Californian to understand the bipartisan stupidity and cupidity with which the largest state in the union is governed. But pinpointing her as an advocate of Washington centralization both ignores her potential role in moving the Administration in the opposite direction, and demonstrates that Bethell is more devoted to his own preconceptions than to interpreting what is going on.

ROBERT A. LEVINE

Los Angeles