August 30, 2010
Monday PM

Editor,

Our economy is of great concern to me. We have 9.5% unemployed and many other who have lost hope about finding a job, and we do not have a unified approach to dealing with this problem.

In general Democrats have unified under an approach which has been called Keynesian after John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) who believed that government was able influence economic cycles by its own action either in increasing spending during down-times or by increasing taxation and cutting spending during booms. However, this policy requires a certain faith in government that appears to be acceptable among Democrats but totally lacking among Republicans and Tea Party folks.

For Conservatives, government is itself the problem as explained by Ronald Reagan, and they prefer to always resort to cutting government as the solution to every problem. Tax-cuts and cuts to programs like Social Security and Medicare are popular solutions to our problems according to them. In addition, the reduction of regulation to allow the "free market" to flourish as Larry Kudlow on CNBC would suggest.

However, there is not greater force in the economy than government and the utilization of infrastructure projects like high-speed rails, repairs of bridges and pipes that crisscross our nation can indeed create jobs while improving the quality of our citizens and the resources of our towns and cities.

It is absolutely true that our national debt is gigantic and growing. Two of the largest contributors to this debt problem have been the tax cuts by the prior administration, well known as "Bush tax cuts" and the Iraq Conflict that stemmed from our desire to strike out at Saddam when Osama was the problem and the United States pursued a war based on weapons of mass destruction that never existed. Our war efforts in Afghanistan are closer to addressing the Al Quaeda/Taliban link and may well be argued by reasonable people.

It is time to let the Bush tax cuts expire. It is time to introduce a new stimulus by the Federal Government to create jobs, aid the states, and get our nation moving again. It is time to reinstate the Estate Tax with a reasonable exemption so that the ever-increasing division between rich and poor does not grow at the expense of the middle class. And it is time to embrace our government as we are a nation of government by and for the people. To find that government is the problem is to find that the American People are they themselves at fault.

Robert Freedland
La Crosse, WI

About: "I am a physician practicing medicine in Wisconsin for the past 24 years. I am interested in politics, investing, and health care and enjoy writing and discussing all of the above with fellow Americans."

Received August 28, 2010 - Published August 30, 2010

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