Letter: GOP hardly serious about fighting deficit

Wednesday April 25, 2018

Democrats have a better fiscal track record than Republicans.

Editor:

​Strongly conservative Forbes magazine carried an opinion piece saying Americans have been conned by Republicans. Its headline: "On the deficit, GOP has been playing us all for suckers."

Under President Barack Obama, Republicans in Congress insisted they would not add one cent to the national debt, shutting down the government to make their point. Yet all four Berks County Republican representatives voted for a tax-cut bill that will cause deficits of more than $1 trillion by 2020, after accounting for expected economic growth. They also voted for a $1.3 trillion appropriations bill, more than doubling Obama's final $616 billion bill. Next, they all voted for a balanced budget amendment. They should need neck braces from the whiplash. They voted against protecting Social Security, but backed lowering the banking and financial restrictions written to avoid another financial collapse.
Propaganda and perception have it all backwards. Since President Richard Nixon, every Democratic president has lowered deficits, and every Republican president increased them, New York Times columnist David Leonhardt recently noted. Democrats, not Republicans, are the party of financial responsibility.

Vanity Fair says Bank of America will get about $2.7 billion in tax cuts this year. The company's gratitude was expressed by canceling free checking for small accounts, shafting poorer customers with a $12 monthly fee. Bloomberg says CEO Brian Moynihan's compensation rose 15 percent to $23 million. Tax cuts benefit the rich, not the rest.

Susan Shaak
St. Lawrence

GOP hardly serious about fighting deficit