Letters to the Editor: The government must balance responsible spending with the needs of the people

To the editor: The purpose of good government is to serve the people. This costs money, which is usually provided through taxation. The trick is to find a better balance than deficit spending.

Contributing writer Veronique De Rugy presents the classical conservative argument that the government is too big, inefficient and expensive (“Trump’s budget would lock in big-government spending and deficits,” May 8). Thus, the cure is to cut it with a chain saw, as even the President Trump-Elon Musk effort is insufficient. Though effectiveness and efficiency must always be aggressively pursued, a good government must work to protect our environment and provide for the health and welfare of the people.

Additionally, it is government support of education and research that made us a world leader and gave us an economy that has been the envy of the world. The other side of the equation is providing enough fair taxation to pay for it. Allowing the 2017 tax cut for the rich to expire would take us part of the way.

Michael Telerant, Los Angeles

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To the editor: The writer claims that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are the primary drivers of our current debt. Nonsense! From the 1970s to today, federal spending has hovered around 20% of GDP — higher in recession, lower in peace and prosperity. During that same period, federal revenue has ranged from 14.5% to 20% of GDP, according to the Tax Policy Center. As it approached 20%, it was hit by Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts, George W. Bush’s tax cuts and, most recently, President Trump’s tax cuts. The structural deficits of today are the direct result of irresponsible Republican tax cuts, not spending.

Norman Rodewald, Moorpark