Democrats prevail at spending

In response to Froma Harrop’s column from Saturday, July 17, “Return to crazy years can’t be answer,” these are the crazy years when it comes to government spending and regulation.

While both parties have spent too much money for decades, the Democrats have long been bigger spenders than the Republicans. Heavy government spending causes long-term economic damage through inflation, debt and high taxes.

Excessive regulation also hinders economic growth. The economic collapse was caused largely by government regulations, particularly those requiring banks to make risky housing loans, not by lack of government control.

The idea that government should spend massive amounts of money on virtually everything implies that it has the godlike omniscience to know where every dollar should go. That is a rather high expectation for an organization trillions of dollars in debt. It would be better to leave the money in the private sector, where businesses and other organizations can allocate their smaller budgets more efficiently.

Rather than returning to the model of lowering taxes while maintaining heavy spending, we need to restructure our economy so that it does not depend on government spending. That is the only sane option.

Rebecca Larsen

Spangle