Dear Editor:
This is a response to U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer's piece in the Feb. 16 News Tribune and to other Republicans and Fox News lovers.
This information is from the article "In Defense of Deficits" by James K. Galbraith, which appeared in the March 22, 2010 issue of the magazine, "The Nation."
Big deficit reduction programs will destroy the economy. There are two ways to get the increase in total spending that we call economic growth. One is for the government to spend and the other is for banks to lend. The government and banks are the two entities with the power to create something from nothing. One of these two has to be in action - public deficits or private loans.
Deficits put money in private pockets. Public budget deficits are better than private loans. This is an increase in net financial wealth. People can pay debt or convert it to government interest earning bonds, but there is nothing in it for the banks.
This explains the deficit phobia of Wall Street, the corporate media and right wing economists. Bankers do not like budget deficits.
We also hear about the bankruptcy of Social Security and Medicare, even the United States and the burden of debt on our grandchildren, all misinformation.