Letter: Problem is spending

There was an AP article written by Fatima Hussein about the federal debt level reaching $31 trillion. This is a typical wire service article picked up by many publications. There are many reasons our debt has ballooned, but Hussein chose to highlight just two of them - the rise in interest rates affecting borrowing costs and the need to raise taxes on the wealthy and close carried interest loopholes. The recent rise in rates only occurred in the last few months and has had little impact, so far, on the annual deficit. Raising taxes on the wealthy does not materially increase revenue, especially when you factor in changes in behavior and tax strategies.

We do not have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. The article not only misses the mark, it is yet another example (subtle in this case) of media bias.

Dean Kelley

St. Charles