Much bigger reform needed

Congress argues over cutting 2 percent of a $1.5 trillion budget? The U.S. dollar’s value is falling, inflation is increasing, rating agencies may cut the U.S.’s AAA credit rating for the first time, and they won’t cut two weeks’ worth of spending?

We borrow 40 cents of every dollar spent, much of it from other countries. The Congressional Budget Office says that by 2020 the deficit will exceed our gross domestic product and by 2025 entitlements and interest on the debt will consume the entire budget. But Sen. Harry Reid fears cuts might eliminate the Cowboy Poetry Festival in Nevada.

Half of all Americans pay no income tax; 40 percent of all households rely on federal entitlements. The top 10 percent of earners pay more than half of the income taxes, yet we say they aren’t paying their share. We have the highest corporate income tax in the world, yet General Electric, which earned $17 billion last year, paid no income tax and got millions back. The CEO of GE is a supporter of the current administration. No connection?

For our children’s and grandchildren’s sake, stop spending, reform our tax system and control entitlements. We are doomed if we don’t.

Mike Sullivan

Post Falls