Kinsley on Democratic, GOP Economic Policies

Re “More GOP Than the GOP,” Commentary, April 3: Michael Kinsley seems to have done a wonderful job of showing the economic incompetence of the Republican Party.

But would Kinsley be willing to look at just where Republicans spend money and what causes the deficits?

Would he be willing to point out that President Clinton shrunk the government through military reductions? It is easy to claim shrinking the budget when the Army is going from 18 divisions to 10 and the other branches are likewise decreased.

President Bush, on the other hand, is forced to fund a growing military and buy equipment that should have been purchased routinely over the last eight years. I don’t give either party credit for fiscal accountability, but this is not one-sided.

When a member of Congress wastes a single dime, then he or she should be labeled a criminal and shunned by society. They have (almost) all forgotten who and what they serve.

Joseph Gross

Lawrence, Kan.

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Kinsley’s article misses the true effect of Republican and Democratic economic policies. The GOP inner circle of wealth seeks to maximize that wealth by cutting taxes. Although the average citizen may receive some slight tax-cut benefit, the true effect is realized by the wealthiest. This tax benefit cancels out the greater taxes that wealthy people are supposed to pay.

The greater national debt, which the GOP incurs, occurs because Republicans willingly spend the tax revenues, and even more, on items that will further benefit the wealthy, such as a military buildup, rebuilding the infrastructure of other countries, etc.

Certainly, there is no economic benefit to the wealthy to assure a cleaner environment, or to take the initiative to demand alternative energy sources, etc., so that kind of spending does not happen.

When you can preserve family wealth as the GOP plan envisions, the penalties of overspending now will not affect their children in the future, only those in the middle and lower classes.

The GOP is able to sell this to the very people who stand to lose as a result, and actually get them to underwrite their wealth in the process, by claiming to be the keepers of the morals and religious beliefs of Americans.

This is a case of the emperor selling the masses new clothes.

Bruce N. Miller

Venice

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Kinsley’s commentary is skewed by the fact that he only uses one Democrat versus three Republicans in his economic comparisons “leaning backward to 1981.” He should include the last two Democrat presidents. This, of course, includes President Carter and the late 1970s, with inflation at more than 11% and mortgage rates much higher than that. How convenient to leave these important details out. Now do the numbers for a realistic comparison!

Gregg Eicholtz

Big Bear Lake