Follow fiscal principles of GOP

In her Sept. 11 column, Froma Harrop expresses great admiration for the progress of the economy, albeit not the best, in the last four years. She reiterates the history of these years fairly accurately, with some glaring omissions.

First, the federal spending rate jumped tremendously starting in 2007 when the Democrats took over Congress. Yes, both parties were guilty in prior years, but the record shows the Dems win the spending spree handsomely. She also seems to have forgotten that the TARP program, which “saved” the banking industry, was a Bush-era program, and that debt has been repaid. The housing situation was set on fire by Bill Clinton’s “affordable housing” programs; G.W. Bush tried in vain to slow that lending pace at least twice.

The economy, the stock market, the banks’ credit policies all tend to freeze up when debt-realization sinks in. This is called conservative action. And Ms. Harrop confirms she is a conservative in her description of how she was not too badly hurt by the recession because: she was relatively free of debt, her investments were not the crazy “go, go” type, she refused to buy-up to a bigger home, etc. In other words, she acted responsibly with her money and did not follow the principles that the Democratic Party is still trying to thrust on the American people.

Yes, Ms. Harrop, you and I and millions like us are better off today than four years ago, but it certainly is not because of any political activity. If anything, it is because the policies we followed resemble the policies preached by most Republicans. And now we have to repay that “stimulus” money, most of which either “disappeared” or was utterly wasted. I’m still waiting to see all those “shovel-ready” projects that have yet to appear.

Leonard Gregory

Mount Prospect