Shrinking Surplus Calls for Bipartisanship

I think Robert Reich has it exactly right in his commentary (“Democrats Are Falling Into the Austerity Trap,” Aug. 24). Wise individuals and corporate giants alike recognize the positive aspects of incurring debt when the returns on that debt yield improvements in personal satisfaction or productivity. I think the current predicament in Washington has nothing to do with the budget or possibilities of deficit spending; it’s politics pure and simple.

The Democrats have been predicting for months that the budget surplus would shrink, and now they’ve been proven right. The Republicans continue to deny the problem to further rationalize the tax cut. But rather than both parties working together to correct the problem, they would rather point fingers at each other and gather political points over the issue.

The executive and legislative branches of our federal and, yes, state and local governments are not serving us well when the political issues are more important to them than the solutions.

Jim Walton

Mission Viejo

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I had to laugh when I read the Aug. 24 headline, “Scarce Funds Imperil Bush Health Goals.” President Bush’s health goals are hardly at risk--the current occupant of the Oval Office exercises at least an hour a day, takes regular naps and never works long hours. His vice president has no problem obtaining government-paid medical treatment and devices that are denied to people who must depend on Medicare, and any of his rich buddies who are not already in his Cabinet can also afford the best available health care. Judging by his actions, Bush is surely achieving his goal of reducing the health of average Americans by increasing pollution, eliminating workplace ergonomic rules, allowing arsenic in our drinking water, protecting HMOs, etc.

Your headline is funny because it pretends that Bush really wanted to invest government funds in health insurance coverage for poor and elderly Americans but now finds himself surprised to be out of money after squandering a huge budget surplus on tax givebacks for the wealthy. What a joke!

Eitan Bear

Santa Monica

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Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson’s “signal” that there may not be enough money available to fund either the Children’s Health Insurance Program or Medicare reform to add prescription drug benefits is appalling in the face of our recent tax rebate and planned tax cuts. How cheaply the Bush administration was able to buy us off to fund a massive payback to his wealthy backers.

Again we should be positively ashamed to stand by while money is returned to the wealthiest and to fund an ill-conceived missile defense system at the expense of our children, our elderly and our disenfranchised.

Irvin Godofsky MD

Marina del Rey