BUDGET: SURPLUS ALLOWS CONGRESS TO GIVE TAXPAYERS A BREAK

BODY: From the very first assertion until the final word of your April 30 piece, “In trade-off; the budget ax can hit home,” I was amazed at your complete irreverence to truth and facts. Immediately delving into an emotional pitch for big government, the article begins with its first misconception: “Tax breaks require spending cuts.”

Over the next 10 years, our federal government will accumulate a $5.6 trillion surplus. Even after setting aside Social Security surpluses, this massive surplus would enable the government to reduce taxes by more than $3 trillion without cutting a single spending item. Though your paper framed the issue as a trade-off between tax cuts and important programs, no such “trade-offs” need be made. In fact, while proposing a significant tax cut, President Bush has also proposed the largest budget in our nation’s history – even larger than any of President Clinton’s budgets.

True, some programs will undoubtedly lose funding in favor of other programs. For instance, your article suggests that the federal program to put more police officers on the street will be “cut” by Bush. However, Clinton passed this as a temporary program – it was never intended to last past this year. The funds freed up by the completion of this program will be used, in part, to put more police officers in schools – not to give people a tax cut.

Let’s get the facts straight. The unprecedented budget surplus in Washington, D.C., gives Congress a unique opportunity to pass a significant pro-growth tax cut, pay down the national debt and still take care of nation’s priorities.

Gary Stannigan

Director,

Citizens for a Sound Economy