Letter: War is distraction from miserably failing economy

Thursday, Dec. 12, 2002 | 9:01 a.m.

The attention of our nation has been focused on the so-called threat to the United States by Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction. But one has to wonder if this is not a red herring and a ploy to distract the nation's attention from the failed economic policies of President Bush and his administration.

When one looks at the healthy economy and its rosy outlook at the end of the Clinton years and compares it with today's darkening picture, one has to ask: What happened? Unemployment, bankruptcy, business failures and mortgage foreclosures are all on the increase, while the stock markets continue their downward spiral.

It all began with the Bush tax cut. This part of his economic policy was apparently based on the failed theory of trickle-down economics. None of the trickle down reached the average citizen as it was filtered off at each level of the cascade.

The results of the tax cut have not only moved the nation from the black side of the ledger to the red, they also have reduced the revenue to the states, causing them to drastically cut their programs to their citizens.

The handwriting is on the wall, inflation will not be far behind. Then what?

At the same time, President Bush is spending billions of dollars on a war effort that will commit the nation to further outlays and an increase in deficit spending. One wonders, after having read the article in Esquire magazine about the role of Karl Rove in the White House, if this is not a real-life enactment of the movie "Wag the Dog."

RAYMOND HARBERT