To the Editor:
The plan to jump-start the economy should be based on the nation’s true economic condition: poverty.
We are currently a poor nation because we have run ourselves into six deep debts: a federal debt (owed heavily to other nationals); a balance-of-payments debt from buying much more from other nations than we have sold them; personal debt from credit cards and other loans; infrastructure deterioration that must be repaired and replaced; education quality compared with our competitor countries; and most serious, an environmental debt from depleting nature’s assets of clean air (without climate-changing gases), clean water, fertile soil, diverse species and a healthy ocean.
We cannot afford a stimulus package aimed at sending people back to the mall. It must aim at repaying our debts, particularly restoring the environment, rebuilding infrastructure and improving our schools.
Bill Shore
Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., Jan. 10, 2009
The writer is executive secretary of the Nature Network.
Note from KBJ: The following sentence appears in the New York Times story: "Republicans, as always, are advocating for more and broader tax cuts." Would you ever see the following sentence in a New York Times story? "Democrats, as always, are advocating for more taxation and spending."
