Response to Donald Garnett rebuttal
Editor:
I am glad I gave Donald Garnett great amusement in my response to Mr. Tom Daheny’s article. I also got great amusement in Donald Garnett’s response. So, we both had a chuckle, which we need today. I also have been through this stuff.
I disagreed with Mr. Daheny’s article. I did not personally attack him. He has his opinion, I have mine.
All is fair in politics. We have primaries in both parties where the candidates attack each other and after the dust settles, they are all pals again.
The First Amendment gives us the right to disagree. In some countries, if you disagree with the government, you disappear. You and I are entitled to our opinions. My pre-internet sources were CBS (Walter Cronkite and his successors) and local newspapers.
You had some accurate information and some errors. From factcheck.org, Bill Clinton had four deficit years and then four surplus years. The surpluses were due to the large tax increase passed in the first year and an equally if not more powerful influence was the booming economy and huge gains in the stock market, which brought in hundreds of millions of unanticipated tax revenues from taxes on capital gains and rising salaries and Social Security taxes on payrolls. So, Bill Clinton benefited from good timing.
The Balance ranks presidents’ deficits from at least Herbert Hoover to Trump. Barack Obama had the largest deficit. By the end of FY 2017, his last budget, his budgets deficits totaled $6.781 trillion, a 58% increase over G.W. Bush, who had the second-worst deficit.
Also, the Social Security fund had a surplus since 1987. Obama reduced the deficit by spending these funds instead of issuing new bonds. The national debt would have been $8.588 trillion without this use of Social Security funds.
You mentioned the wars by George W. Bush. You must have missed my statement that I do not want our military put in harm’s way except to defend this country.
We owe our military personnel a debt of gratitude.
Since I wrote my first letter, a few nasty things have occurred. An assassin tried to kill Donald Trump. This is wrong! This is a symptom of the hate in this country by some people. We use the ballot box to settle our differences. It is equally wrong to try to do the same thing to Joe Biden. I may not agree with his handling of the economy, but no one has the right to do harm to him.
One Democrat I always voted for since I have lived here was F. Ann Rodriquez. I spoke to her once or twice and told her what a great job she did in her position.
It was sad to see Joe Biden’s decline during the debate. It was hard to watch. I do not wish bad health on any politician. Donald, you asked about sources of information. After the debate, I went to CNN, a liberal station and supporter of Joe Biden, to get their take on the debate.
They thought it was a disaster for Joe Biden. I did not go to Fox or Newsmax for their spin. Also, it was terrible how Joe Biden was ousted from his bid to get reelected.
The unfortunate thing about today’s Fourth Estate is that it is no longer the watchdog for checking on politicians as the major stations are owned by liberal multibillionaires or conservative multibillionaires. Today, all we get from the news organizations is their opinions.
They no longer subscribe to Dragnet’s Sgt. Joe Friday’s “Just the facts. Ma’am.”
I set up lunches for a social club of women and men every two months. I asked the four people who joined me if they would like to try another restaurant. They said the food there was excellent, but was out of their price range. Also, they can only go occasionally with their budgets.
My haircut person told me her rent is over $18,000 per year and her supplies are more costly. Six salons there are now empty! Those small businesswomen are gone. My massage therapist, another small businesswoman, has to raise her rates in September to cover costs in rent and the therapeutic cream she uses that was $35 per gallon and now is over $100 per gallon.
My landscaper never showed up for his appointment and he may have shut down his business. Inflation is hurting people from increases in goods and services from a combination of higher wages and materials and the price of diesel fuel. Sooner or later, a truck must deliver all goods and services.
The next president will have to deal with the current economic mess.
Also, your crack about Al Capone is funny as he sold real liquor from Canada and not poisonous methanol “Bathtub Gin” that killed people!
My final say on this topic is you are entitled to your opinion. Your comment that “Mr. Albini should do more research through honest sources” implies that my sources were less honest than yours. This kind of statement has no place in a rebuttal letter.
- Anthony J. Albini
