Letters to the Editor: Lynbrook/East Rockaway

The debt keeps rising

To the Editor:
Letter writer Bernard Kilkelly asks for facts regarding our national deficits (“Says D’Amato got it wrong,” Aug. 2-8). It appears that his argument is that because federal fiscal years run from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 of the following year and because President Obama took office in January 2009, President Bush is responsible for all spending up to Sept. 30, 2009.
This is just plain wrong, as Bush’s proposed budget, with a deficit of $400 billion, wasn’t approved by Congress until after he left office, and President Obama was the one who signed it into law, after adding $400 billion in spending to it. This after Obama had issued a campaign promise to cut the Bush deficits in half. Of course Obama inherited a deficit, but it was his add-ons (the stimulus bill, cash for clunkers, subsidized down payments on homes, etc.) and a fall-off in revenue due to the recession that increased the deficit to $1.2 trillion. The puzzle is why Kilkelly tries to blame Obama’s deficits on Bush. Despite his campaign promise, Obama is proud of the huge deficits because he asserts that additional spending (he is currently asking for more of it) will eventually spur economic growth. The voters will have to decide if they agree with that approach or not.
The national debt when Bush took office was $5.7 trillion. When Obama took office eight years later, it was $10.7 trillion, an increase of $5 trillion and a strange record for someone who presents himself as a conservative. As of June 30, 2012, the national debt was $15.8 trillion, an additional increase of $5.1 trillion. So, Obama (and Congress) increased our debt in three and a half years as much as Bush (and Congress) did in eight years. These figures are from the U.S. Treasury and show that Al D’Amato is correct. Perhaps the Herald should do some fact checking.

Dennis Duffy
Lynbrook

Rezoning should benefit community

To the Editor: