Stimulating debate

Re “Senators clear way for stimulus bill,” Feb. 10

Being old enough to have seen boom-and-bust cycles in this country, I am amazed at how quickly Congress is rushing this so-called economic stimulus package out to the public. This crisis has not developed because of a particular economic philosophy, as President Obama would have you believe, but because of the failure of regulatory oversight committees in Congress, led by the Democrats over the last two years. They created a large class of people who will not be able to obtain credit to buy anything. This stimulus program does nothing for them, and if it did, the same cycle of bankruptcy could start again.

Congress is about to hand the next generation a debt load that will hinder any long-term economic growth. When the money we need to finance this package cannot be found in the world market, the U.S. Treasury will print money. Few remember the Carter presidency: Inflation was rampant.

If deficit spending is so stimulating, why isn’t this economy roaring?

Bob Ash

Mission Viejo

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Obama once promised: “We will go through our federal budget -- page by page, line by line, eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible, cost-effective way.”

I await Obama’s effort to review the final bill to eliminate programs we don’t need.

Thomas R. Damiani

Newport Beach

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We’ve lost 3.6 million jobs in this recession, yet all but a few Republicans in Congress failed to support the stimulus package. I wonder how their tune would change if one Republican senator lost his job for every 100,000 Americans who lose theirs? Maybe then they would understand the urgency of this situation and take some action.

Severn Williams

Goleta