Feedback

“Superbad” (Opening Remarks, Nov. 28-Dec. 4) is fairly well-written, but it reaches the wrong conclusion. The supercommittee was a debt reduction committee, not a tax-raising committee. Apparently that point was missed by Paul M. Barrett. If raising taxes is necessary for the U.S. to get out of debt, how does this article square with the fact that President Obama and the Democrats not only want to continue the payroll tax deduction but want to raise it to $1,500? The Congressional Budget Office says this would cost $2 billion in lost revenue. No economist in good standing would suggest raising taxes in a down economy, and I believe we are in one.

Also, I question anyone who wants to give more money to a government with the failings of ours. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have cost us billions; the U.S. Post Office wants $10 billion from taxpayers every year and raises rates. (In the case of the Post Office, bad union contracts should be renegotiated, unneeded employees should be laid off, and unneeded post offices and distribution centers should be closed. There is already pushback from the Democrats regarding closing post offices and distribution centers.) Amtrak loses money every year, the so-called Justice Dept. has not prosecuted anybody from the derivative producing houses that caused the financial collapse, and the Securities and Exchange Commission can’t identify a Ponzi scheme—but by its own admission, it “suspected” R. Allen Stanford of Texas for eight years.