Tax Cuts and Spending Plans

Re “Tax Cuts: the Silly Season,” editorial, Jan. 6: The Times continues to group the Republican tax cuts and Democratic spending plans in the same category. The Times says both plans are irresponsible. Yes, the Republican-proposed tax cuts mainly benefiting the well-to-do are irresponsible and immoral. Contrarily, Democratic spending plans to provide necessary services for the poor are not only responsible, they are essential.

Can we afford health care and other essential services for the poor? Considering the current number of billionaires and millionaires, we had better find a way to provide these services pronto. The Times would be well advised to stop trying so hard to be neutral regarding the wisdom of Republican and Democratic plans.

QUENTIN C. STODOLA

Redondo Beach

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I was appalled at your editorial for its characterization of tax cuts as reckless.

The success our economy currently enjoys was built upon the foundation of the tax policies of Ronald Reagan. Where do you think this country would be had Reagan not liberated taxpayers from the suffocating tax rates of the ‘70s, enabling them to invest their money back into the economy by consuming goods and investing in the stock market? Much of this money was in turn invested into the research and development of new technological ideas.

To be sure, Bill Clinton has played his part, notably by listening to Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, as well as mostly agreeing with the spending policies of the Republican Congress. Remember, “The era of big government is over.” Your editors point out that the Clinton tax increase of ’93 helped to eliminate the deficit. However, a closer look at the facts reveals that the nation’s surging economy would have erased the deficit all by itself. While the tax increase has increased the size of the surplus in the short term, the money that has been taken away from the economy and subsequently wasted by Washington will continue to keep the economy from reaching its full potential. Tax cuts are a blessing, not a sin. Bring ‘em on: the bigger the better.

PAUL RIPPLE

North Hollywood

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You claim that tax cuts are reckless, lousy economics and lousy politics. But your remarks about Social Security surpluses are also reckless and reflect your lousy understanding of federal accounting and the media’s need to continue to feed the paranoia of the uninformed.

Social Security surpluses can only earn interest if they are loaned to someone who promises to pay them back, and that is exactly what occurs. The federal government general fund pays interest annually into the Social Security Trust Fund, which reflects it as income along with payroll taxes.

MEL WOLF

Burbank