Letters

Featured Letter: Simple math shows Obama’s fiscal plan doesn’t add up

TIMES/REVIEW FILE PHOTO | Then-Senator Barack Obama pointing to a copy of the Shelter Island Reporter at a 2008 fundraiser for his first presidential campaign.

To the Editor:

So let me understand the reasoning.

Mr. Obama says his fiscal plan is best for the country. Basically, it says higher taxes, albeit only on the rich, and more spending. The GOP says their fiscal plan of changing the tax code to reduce deductions on the rich and less spending is the answer.

The current situation is a growing deficit and debt that both Democrats and Republicans say is bad for the country. What causes the deficit and debt to grow is spending more than you take in. Every person who took third-grade math and passed understands this.

While running for office, Mr. Obama liked to say that Mr. Romney’s “math just doesn’t add up” but he never put his math on the table until just this past week. It doesn’t add up either. It calls for more spending and not enough revenue to overcome all the spending. The result is higher deficits and increased debt.

This is a simple math equation in which the only true solution is to reduce spending. Most Americans understand this, so the real tide of government should be to address this issue for the good of all, not just those who contributed to either campaign.

The lobbying that goes on inside the beltway is really our problem. It takes away from a government “Of the people, by the people and for the people” and places it instead in a kind of Tammy Hall mentality. Until those elected can work for the good of the country regardless of party we are destined to not understand math.

As that economist who does the Kyocera advertisements on TV says, “it really is that simple.”

Bob Bittner, Cutchogue

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