Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Letter to the editor:

Budget cuts fail to spur demand

In my opinion, the majority of the American people, especially the supporters of the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street crowd, have missed the point on many aspects of our economic difficulties. First of all, the bailouts, from the Bush-instigated TARP to the Obama-instigated auto-industry bailouts and the “stimulus” programs, did not cause the economic mess the country is in. On the contrary, they were responsible for containing the damage caused by other Bush policies, especially tax cuts for the rich and the relaxation of the rules that were keeping Wall Street and the banks in check from the disastrous effects we have all seen.

To his credit, Bush saw the error of his ways and instituted TARP and some of the bailouts, which, in conjunction with those of Obama, kept us from entering another Great Depression, which is still on the horizon if the Tea Party has its way. If you think 9 percent unemployment is bad, how does 25 percent unemployment hit you?

Cutting taxes for the rich and cutting spending on programs for the old, sick and poor, as well as other government spending, will not increase demand. Without demand, the factories cannot run full blast and will build up inventories only to have them sit in warehouses. How long do you think they will stay in business? They will never go full blast in the first place without demand and the recession will continue. Get that, Tea Party?

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