Get serious about deficits

Re “Obama has plan to slash the deficit,” Feb. 22

After writing the biggest rubber check in history, our president claims he’s a deficit hawk. I haven’t laughed so hard since Bill Clinton promised to make abortion “rare.”

President Obama’s blarney is aimed at his gullible and naive supporters who uncritically hang on his every word.

If he’s serious about balancing the budget, Obama can start with the just-revealed $410-billion House spending bill. Pork-laden as per normal, the 8% increase over last year’s incarnation is ripe for trimming.

As the president expands welfare, ramps up our military presence in Afghanistan and plans to nationalize healthcare, Americans should brace themselves for trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see.

That will be change only easy marks believe in.

Jerry Pomeroy

Sun City

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The Times reported that Obama’s “federal budget blueprint also proposes to help reduce the deficit by eliminating waste and inefficiency in government.”

If the purpose of the stimulus package was to put money into circulation and stimulate spending and job growth, wouldn’t the elimination of any government spending be counterproductive?

Wouldn’t it be simpler to just keep the wasteful and inefficient spending and reduce the stimulus money? Does anyone really believe that the stimulus spending will be any less wasteful and inefficient than current government spending?

Richard Raffalow

Valley Glen