It's GOP's Fault
To The Editor:

Republicans are preparing to battle the Democratic candidate for president. Having lost the White House to Bill Clinton's mantra, "It's the economy stupid", the Republicans will attack Democrats as tax-and-spenders while claiming that the sorry state of the economy is the result of Democratic mismanagement.

Republican operatives are anticipating questions of what happened to the surplus bequeathed to G.W. Bush. The response by the Republican pundits is that the war(s) cost the surplus and resulted in the nation's deficits and staggering national debt. With Congress reverting to Democratic majority last year, Republicans will claim Democrats spent the nation into the red. It would be refreshing for a Ross Perot type to shatter this myth.

The surplus left by Clinton was spent by Bush before the end of [his] administration's first year in office. During seven years of Bush, $150 billion has been taken from the Social Security Trust Fund to make the deficit appear smaller than it is. The current budget offered by Bush presumes a deficit of $477 billion and has been declared ridiculous by members of Congress for its proposal to drastically cut domestic spending.

The surplus was squandered by the Bush Administration and Republican-controlled Congress on give-aways to the wealthy through tax cuts that enriched a few and have cost and will cost future generations increased expense to fund what is the American dream of home ownership, college opportunities and an economic life that holds promise. The AMT (alternative minimum tax) continues as a hidden tax increase that is a cancer [on] the middle class, who [are] dependent upon earning an income.

Bush's legacy is of a nation that is feared and disrespected worldwide while obligating future generations to pay for his largesse. Edward Horn Baldwin, New York