Letter to the Editor


Concerned about debt

Editor,

Drobac, Nikola (Nick). "Concerned About Debt." The Ephrata Review, 15 November 2006, Vol. 129, No. 6, sec. A: 5.

As an accounting teacher, I always taught my students that debt and deficits are bad. They are bad for individuals, companies, and all levels of government.

Back in October, before the election, David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, head of the US Government Accountability Office, warned a packed hall at Austin's historic Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas, that the nation is on the path of financial ruin. His main concern is the growing national debt.

In the late 1990's when the national debt was $5.7 trillion, President Bill Clinton, Democrat, set in motion a fiscal plan that would have paid off the national debt by the year 2010. If Al Gore, Democrat, had won the presidential election of 2000, four years from today, 2010, the debt would have been paid off.

Instead, George W. Bush, Republican, won the election. With the help of the Republican House and Senate, Bush cut taxes (revenues) and increased spending (expenses). This caused the federal budget to balloon and national debt (sum accumulation of all federal budget deficits) to reach $8.5 trillion (and growing). As a result, according to Walker, we are now at a crisis situation and may experience an economic collapse of the US economy in the near future.

An economic collapse of the US economy will adversely affect everything from jobs, healthcare, traditional pension plans, 401k plans, savings plans, the military, social security, to our everyday way of living.

In 1994, the Republicans introduced their infamous "Contract with America." The Republicans were demanding a balanced budget amendment. The Republicans wanted a balance budget even in the event of a national emergency and/or war.

Rick Santorum signed that "Contract with America." By voting along party lines, Rick Santorum and Joseph R. Pitts voted to reduce revenues and increase expenses. We held Santorum accountable and voted him out of office. Pitts lucked out.

Now that the Democrats are the majority again in Congress, they might want to put the country back on the road to fiscal responsibility. The free spending Republican’s (Pitts) that somehow were able to eke out a victory, they might just want to jump on board and do what is in the best interest of the country.

Nikola (Nick) Drobac
Stevens, PA 17578-0041

Drobac, Nikola (Nick). "Concerned About Debt." The Ephrata Review, 15 November 2006, Vol. 129, No. 6, sec. A: 5.

drobac

drobac


drobac

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Web site, "We receive more letters than we can fit into the limited space on the editorial page, so we'd like to share some additional letters with our Post-Gazette Web site readers."

Letters to the editor

Drobac, Nikola (Nick). "Responsible for the Debt Crisis." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 05 Nov. 2006. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06309/735509-110.stm

Responsible for the debt crisis

This past week, David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, warned a packed hall at the historic Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas, that the nation is on the path to financial ruin. His main concern is the growing national debt.

In the late 1990s when the national debt was $5.7 trillion, President Clinton set in motion a fiscal plan that would have paid off the national debt by the year 2010. If Al Gore had won the presidential election of 2000, the debt would have been paid off four years from now.

Instead, George W. Bush won the election. With the help of the Republican House and Senate, Mr. Bush cut taxes causing the federal budget to balloon and national debt to reach $8.5 trillion (and growing). According to Mr. Walker, we are now at a crisis situation and may experience an economic collapse of the U.S. economy in the near future.

An economic collapse will adversely affect everything: jobs, health care, traditional pension plans, 401K plans, savings plans, the military, Social Security and our everyday way of living.

In 1994, the Republicans introduced their infamous "Contract with America," which included a balanced budget amendment. They wanted a balanced budget even in the event of a national emergency and/or war.

Rick Santorum signed that Contract with America. By voting along party lines, Rick Santorum, Melissa Hart and other Republicans voted for the budget increases. Now we must hold the Republicans accountable. Santorum, Hart and the others need to be voted out of office.

NIKOLA (NICK) DROBAC
Aliquippa, PA 15001-2036

Drobac, Nikola. "Responsible for the Debt Crisis." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 05 Nov. 2006. 06 Nov. 2006 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06309/735509-110.stm

drobac

drobac


drobac