Even elderly got government help

Two letters appearing on July 10 require responses. Their titles were: 1) Obama spending out of control, and 2) Elderly built this land on their backs.

1) After President Carter's presidency of "malaise," we had President Reagan's "feel-good" years. Most people did not realize, however, that their sense of prosperity was a sham. At the national level, and at the family level, we were going further into debt continuously. Although Reagan kept calling for a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, he never once submitted a balanced budget to the Congress.

Since then, deficit spending has been the norm under every president, with one exception: President Clinton. It took many years of bad fiscal policy to bring us to the present crisis. Expecting miracles of the new administration is simply not reasonable.

2) This letter implies that the elderly are self-made successes, independent of government programs. As an elderly person, I'm very proud of our generation, but a little reflection is in order. Many thousands of young men found work, food, and shelter during the '30s in the Civilian Conservation Corps. During the Great Depression, millions of families were able to feed and clothe our generation of children because they had jobs in government programs like the Works Progress Administration.

After World War II, millions of us received our college educations on the G.I. Bill and our mortgages from the FHA. In retirement, we receive Social Security payments and Medicare or Medicaid health insurance. Yes, we elderly have worked hard and accomplished much, but we haven't done it alone. A beneficent Uncle Sam has been a willing contributor for most of our lives.

Donald G. Westlake

Wheaton