Tea party pushes ill-conceived cuts

The Tea Party-inspired plan to cut $61 billion in spending moved South Carolina Republican Representative Tim Scott to proclaim. “$100 billion is $100 billion is $100 billion.”

Yes it is, Mr. Scott, yes it is. Unless it is $61 billion.

Nevertheless, what does America get for this Tea Partyer idea of $100 billion in cuts? Two programs which are to be significantly cut serve well to show the direction the tea party movement would take our country. The Tea Partyers propose The Women, Infants and Children Program (WIP), the program that provides nutritional support for women and infants, take a $747 million cut.

The Tea Partyers also propose a 53 percent reduction in an account used to fund cleanup of the Great Lakes.

So, we risk increasing malnutrition in our children and increasing dirty water in our lakes to save a buck. Such things are high on the tea party movement's list of laudable things to accomplish for America. Yet these things seem to be ill-conceived ideas.

Our country long ago rejected these ideas the tea party today advocates to save a buck, because they are bad ideas.

Leroy Tischauser

Lake Zurich