Share the blame

EDITOR:

Once again Irene Gutierrez in a letter to the editor dated Feb. 10, 2010 falsely attributes most if not all of this nation's economic woes to George W. Bush, the Bush administration and the Republicans. A significant share of the culpability for our problems belongs to the Democrats.

Ms. Gutierrez claims the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 prevented deep recessions. From 1933 to date we have experienced 13 recessions. Three of them had an unemployment rate above 10 percent and one above 26 percent. This hardly qualifies as preventing deep recessions and their lingering effects. From 1933 to 1937, by government definition, the United States was not in a recession yet the unemployment rate never went below 16 percent. She alleges the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 solely gutted the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. Major portions of the 1933 Act were previously repealed with bi-partisan acts in 1980 and 1982. The final 1999 bill was passed by the Senate 90-8 and by the House 362-57. This bi-partisanship must honestly be shared with the Democrats.

Since 1933 numerous other such economically disasterous acts show blame should be shared. Ms. Gutierrez would do well to be as concerned about the history she ignores as the eight years she is rewriting. Since 1933 (the government defined end of the Great Depression) the Democrats have simultaneously controlled both houses of Congress for 51 years and the Republicans for 14 years. During those periods the Democrats also simultaneously held the White House for 31 years and the Republicans for six years.

She references the Congressional Budget Office Web site evaluation of the Obama first year's budget deficit. The deficit for Obama's first budget, presented to Congress in 2009, will not be known until Oct. 1, 2010. I could not find and doubt that the CBO could evaluate a deficit that is unknown.

Ms. Gutierrez reaffirms an earlier letter and her comments about alleged legislation passed by Bush and his Congress that was actually signed into law by Clinton.

In the letter published Dec. 2, 2009, she falsely alleged that the "tax cut" Bush gave the rich caused the national debt to increase. In fact it was a "tax rate cut" and the subsequent taxes paid into the government increased the next three years. Increasing tax income does not increase the national debt.

She also mistakenly used and is still using the government budget deficit and the national debt interchangeably. The federal budget does not include the costs for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and many other off budget appropriations by Congress. It is a document not wholly based on reality. During 2008 the budget deficit was $455 billion but the national debt increased by $1 trillion. She berated Bush for leaving office with a record high deficit yet she apparently quoted numbers from the national debt. Since 1933, all presidents, from both parties, have left office with a record high national debt. Continually repeating fallacies do not make them true.

Ben Justus

Gardnerville