Thoughts on the national debt I

I feel compelled to respond to Burt Constable's column from June 12 titled: "Fuzzy Math + tax cuts + health care = $9 trillion debt". In it he spells out how our national debt is rising and he implies two things. The first is that tax increases would help ease that situation, and the second is that the national debt is horrible. He is incorrect on both.

History has shown over the past generation or more that when taxes are lowered, the amount that the government collects (i.e. revenue) increases. It has been demonstrated time and again. This is normally attributed to the general result that allowing the people to keep more of their money results in more economic spending and growth, job creation, and hence more total income on which to tax (not to mention more total taxpayers).

Is the national debt horrible? In raw numbers, it seems logical to say yes. However, when one views things in terms of financial accounting, the answer is no. The amount of assets this country has dwarfs the amount of debt.

Do yourself a favor. Unless you want to sound like the average political prevaricator, please don't encourage the belief that a tax increase will help reduce the national debt. Only reducing spending will accomplish this goal. And please don't encourage undue fear-mongering about the national debt. It is manageable and can be reduced easily with gradual reductions in government spending growth.

Todd Franson

Lindenhurst