Where waste really is
I'd like to answer Ms. Shirley Roe's question regarding U.S. aid to other countries.
Ms. Roe, if it'll make you feel better, the U.S. government does not send a penny (other than times of natural disasters in which case all countries try to help) unless it thinks it is in our interest to do so. And my understanding is that the so-called aid is always given with certain conditions, such as buying cars or guns/ammo, etc., from us, which means quite a bit of the aid money comes back to the U.S. and helps our economy, or our government asks for troops to fight alongside ours. Also, some aid to severely underdeveloped countries to prevent the spread of some diseases. And the aid is (according to the Pentagon) less than 1 percent of our defense budget.
If you want to be outraged about wasting money, let's talk about spending $10 billion a year on 800 U.S. bases around the world. It's way past time to quit the Cold War mentality and close most of these bases and bring our troops home. We have the capability to be anywhere we need to be in a short period of time, so it's not necessary to have the overwhelming and terribly expensive military presence all over the world.
Happy New Year!
ROSE GOVAR
Maumelle
On Arkansas' beauty
The beautiful letter by Sallyann J. Brown last month was the most enjoyable of any that I've read in months. Many letters have been those criticizing others or complaining about someone else.
I've lived in a few other states and I agree with Ms. Brown concerning the beauty of Arkansas. I hope that she can continue to sit on her porch at dawn for many more years and appreciate the beauty of Arkansas and to also write about it.
HAROLD BLACKWOOD
North Little Rock
Digital maps failure
The writer Mr. John Hord is correct about the new digital maps. I also checked the maps for my house and found the whole block flipped.
JAMES JOHNSON
Russellville
Comparing economies
Last month Stephen Moore, an economic adviser to Trump's transition team, wrote an op-ed titled "On tax cuts, Trump is the modern day JFK." However, the only similarity between the two presidents' tax policies is that they were both enacted during periods of good U.S. economic performance and not during recessions.
The JFK tax measure cut income taxes for all income levels by about 20 percent, cut the corporate tax by only 4 percent, and included tax reforms to make the measure revenue-neutral. Trump's tax measure gives large tax cuts to corporations with trivial cuts to low- and lower-middle-class taxpayers and paid little attention to offsetting the deficit.
Moore also states that with Reagan's tax cuts "total tax revenues surged from $517 billion in 1980 to just over $1 trillion by 1990." Moore leaves out that Reagan also raised taxes 11 times to increase revenue because of skyrocketing deficits. Data from the Tax Policy Center site shows that revenue did double during Reagan's decade, but revenue has also doubled or more in every decade from 1940 to 2000.
Our favorite editorial writer calls Reagan's time "pour down" economics. He and other Reagan swooners like to forget that Carter left the U.S. with an economy-strangling Fed interest rate that varied from 12 percent to 20 percent in 1981 and early 1982. After Reagan's tax cuts, which partly went into effect in 1981 and completely in 1982, our GDP growth rate went from 2.6 percent in 1981 to -1.9 percent in 1982, more of a drought than a pour-down. In mid-1982 the Fed began cutting the interest rate, which by December was down to 8.5 percent. The GDP growth rate then spiked to 7.83 percent in 1984. Reagan's tax cuts may have helped the economy but the cut in interest rates was the catalyst that made the economy "pour."
Now we are going to try trickle-down economics again. Hopefully for the U.S., the third time will be charmed. But don't hold your breath.
KENNETH R. WEBER
Bella Vista
For pain management
Why would the state sue opioid manufacturers? That is like the state suing all food manufacturers for the obesity epidemic in the state. Opioids for responsible pain management are a legitimate need. Why not go after the doctors and pharmacists who fill the prescriptions irresponsibly?
BARBARA GAROT
Little Rock
Editorial on 01/07/2018