Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Letter to the editor:

America’s fiscal house not in order

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The letter written by Frank Mentlik, “We have had 400 years to learn,” made several good points but was not factual in terms of history.

The English settlers who came to Jamestown in 1607 didn’t come due to religious reasons or issues that they had with James I, the king of England. Instead, they came to make a buck or two.

They were part of an all-male group that came to try to establish a colony and hopefully turn a profit.

The establishment of James­town was part of the English government’s plan to get into a race for colonies in not only the New World but around the world.

Mr. Mentlik is correct when he talks about the uncertain future that we face as a nation with an ever-increasing national debt.

We can’t continue to spend money that we don’t have, and we can’t continue to become engaged in wars that we can and should avoid. The recent war in Iraq comes quickly to mind.

Also, we need to take a long, hard look at our defense budget and possibly take a paring knife to parts of it. We spend twice as much on defense as China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom combined. Forty-three cents out of every dollar spent on weapons throughout the world is spent by us.

Our current national debt can’t be paid off in the blink of an eye, regardless of how much budget cutting we might do.

But cutting back on a bloated defense budget would be a great start.

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