Bill White – 10/24/04

This page was last updated on October 24, 2004.

Deficits do matter; Bill White; Beaver County Times; October 24, 2004.

This is the fifth anti-Bush letter from Mr. White since August 26, 2004.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“There is no question the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, is felt in every part of our country.

“Most Americans immediately asked, ‘What can we do to help?’ The country was entirely united. We waited for the word.

“The word came down: keep shopping; go on a vacation; fly somewhere; keep spending; be careful but don’t stop doing what you’re doing.

“In other words, we were told to do nothing when our nation was in a critical situation.

“Many thought we should drive less, turn our thermostats down and do whatever it took to use less oil, and that industry would be asked to build more efficient cars and power facilities. Taxes were expected to increase to pay for military operations and national defense. It seemed only natural our country would have increased spending, and it seemed natural for increased revenue to offset this deficit.

“But no, the president decided a major tax cut, followed by several more tax cuts were in order.”

[RWC] Unlike Mr. White, President Bush recognized that a strong economy defeats the enemy as much as a strong military. A recession began in the late days of the Clinton administration and tax increases would have hurt the economy. Fed Chairman Greenspan acknowledges this fact even though he wasn’t keen on the tax cuts at the beginning.

Does anyone seriously believe we’d see a letter like this from Mr. White if the circumstances were the same but we had a liberal president?

“And what has followed is the largest deficit the world has ever known. It is so astronomical that it may never be paid back, which means our creditors (China, Japan, etc.) must be paid interest each year on this borrowing that artificially balances the budget.

“Because of this imbalance, the mentioned countries now determine a lot of our foreign policy, trade agreements, and Treasury decisions. They talk, we listen.”

[RWC] So Japan, Red China, etc. encouraged us to go into Afghanistan and Iraq? Is Mr. White kidding?

“Now, the President says he needs four more years. He promises to halve the deficit. Is anyone willing to believe him? Vice President Dick Cheney says, ‘Deficits don’t matter.’

“Deficits do matter. Vote ‘em out.”

[RWC] When liberals were presidents and/or controlled Congress, how many of them complained about deficits? I can almost guarantee that if we had surpluses, Mr. White would be complaining about them.