Letters to the Press: For the Week of June 3 – June 9

Not So Fast

Dear Editor:

When I read Smithtown Committeeman Jeremy Pitcoff’s letter [“Letters to the Editor,” May 27] stating that the American people should attempt to decipher truth from fiction, I wholeheartedly agreed. I thought a good place to start was Mr. Pitcoff’s letter. I was particularly amused by his coupling of “fiscal responsibility, tax cuts” with regard to those who call themselves “conservatives” today.

I’ll give you the tax cuts Mr. Pitcoff, but Republicans have been the party of fiscal irresponsibility in the 30 years since Ronald Reagan introduced “Reaganomics,” or as George H.W. Bush once called it, “voodoo economics.” When Reagan took office, the national debt stood at $900 billion. Reagan and George H.W. Bush ran that debt to nearly $5 trillion! Bill Clinton slowed the growth of the debt dramatically, balanced the budget and handed George W. Bush a budget with a surplus. Undeterred, George W. Bush and his “fiscally responsible” conservatives ran the debt up to $10 trillion and handed incoming President Obama an FY2009 budget with a $1.3 trillion deficit.

The tax cuts that led to this alarming fiscal condition did nothing but line the pockets of America’s wealthiest citizens. The rest of us were supposed to benefit from the “trickle-down effect,” one of the most insulting terms I have ever heard used by an American political party. What it translates to is “crumbs from the tables of the rich.”

There are no real conservatives in today’s Republican Party. Do you want to know who real conservatives were, Mr. Pitcoff? They were men like Robert Taft and Dwight Eisenhower. World War II left this country with a staggering national debt and a need to continue government spending to ensure a strong growing economy. During the eight years of the Eisenhower presidency, the marginal federal tax rate stood at 91 percent. The country grew. Working class Americans prospered like never before and yes, Mr. Pitcoff, the people today’s GOP represents did very well. The rich got richer and corporate America grew at an incredible rate.

Yes, we need to cut the federal government down to size, but the only president that tried in the last 30 years was Clinton, and once Obama completes getting us out of the variety of messes left by Bush, I am sure he will continue that work.

Until, Mr. Pitcoff, your party repudiates the fiscally irresponsible doctrine of Reagonomics, it won’t get my vote, although I did vote for every Republican presidential candidate starting with Richard Nixon and ending with George H.W. Bush. The Republican Party’s first president, Abraham Lincoln, famously said, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time.” Unfortunately, today’s Republicans seem to have misunderstood what he meant, and adopted it as their strategy. I stopped being fooled years ago.

Alex Kelly
Smithtown

Don’t Lose Lesson in Gulf Mess

Dear Editor:

The tragedy of mismanagement and slack oversight that led to the environmental disaster in the form of the BP “blowout” (not a “spill” as it is often referred), gushing millions of gallons of crude in the Gulf of Mexico, may provide us with the opportunity to finally question, and hopefully break with, our outmoded energy system. Granting highly profitable mercenary corporations like BP leases to “drill baby drill” is invitation to further disaster. Conscious citizens need to withhold business from BP and other polluters and support efficient public transportation systems and other energy conservations and renewable sources. Boycott BP and walk whenever possible. The planet and your heart will thank you.

Sincerely,

Brian O’Haire
Bethpage