Bush Proposes Faster Tax Cuts

* Re “Bush Calls for Faster Relief in Tax Cuts,” Feb. 6: President Bush should think about paying off the debt that his dad and Ronald Reagan borrowed and spent before proposing massive tax cuts. It seems that he wants to go back to the theory of “trickle down,” which didn’t work out quite as President Reagan and the first President Bush thought it would. As for giving a huge tax cut to the likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and to Bush himself, limit the ultrarich to the tax cut that he proposes for the middle-class family of four--$1,600.

GARY A. LYNCH

Los Angeles

* Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) complained about Bush’s tax cut: “If you make $1 million a year, under the Bush plan your tax cut would be big enough to buy a new Lexus. If you’re from an average working family, you can get a new muffler for your used car.” My wife says: “If you make $1 million a year, your taxes would be enough to buy a new Lexus. If you’re an average working family, the tax bite would only be the cost of a new muffler!”

HENRY SAKAIDA

Temple City

* Bush’s comment that his average tax cut of $1,600 will pay for 24 months of electricity for a California family shows that he is as out of touch with the concerns of real people as was his father when he commented on grocery store scanners. No wonder he lost the popular vote.

JEFFREY M. BAGLEY

Los Angeles

* As a member of the 30% tax bracket, I see no need for a tax cut unless it is solely directed at the poor. As for the rest of us, as long as we have mentally challenged, homeless people wandering the streets, I see no need for a tax cut. As long as we have overloaded, underfinanced social programs, I see no need for a tax cut. As long as our educational system is in dire need and its teachers grossly underpaid, I see no need for a tax cut. As long as our politicians and the CEOs of major corporations reap record-breaking salaries, bonuses and perks, I definitely do not see a need for a tax cut.

ALBERT OBREGON

Sunland

* Re “GOP, Democratic Lawmakers Jump on Tax Cut Bandwagon,” Feb. 3: David Stockman’s book “The Triumph of Politics” should be required reading for all members of the present Congress. It details the infamy of the 1981 tax cut that resulted in our now-enormous debt.

HAL ENGEBRETSON

Yorba Linda