Economic Downturn

* Bill Press, it isn’t too late for you to reexamine your premise that the president has put the market into a nose dive (“When the President Talks, Everyone in America Panics,” Commentary, March 16). As a lifelong Democrat and a lifelong investor, I’ll tell you when it began. Unfortunately, it began last April under Bill Clinton’s watch.

Nothing poor old President Bush has said has affected the stock market. My fellow Democrats are running for cover and hoping to spread the blame for their inability to understand economics, because this crash is being referred to by a number of Wall Street analysts as Clinton’s recession, despite the fact that Alan Greenspan controls the purse strings and has given us a boom as well as a bust.

If you don’t like the tax plan, then argue against it, but let’s not start looking foolish by blaming Dubya. It embarrasses the rest of us Democrats.

PATRICK O’BRIEN

San Juan Capistrano

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* I agree with Press when he says, “As a way of justifying his mammoth $1.6-trillion tax cut, Bush has been talking down the economy.” I’m afraid that Part B of this plan could be to jump-start the economy by getting us into a war. After all, he’s got all those defense contracts to award. Give me Clinton, scandals and all, any day. At least he didn’t make the people personally suffer for his agenda.

BARBARA SHAPIRO

Huntington Beach