Conservatives combat cronyism, not business
Re: “Conservatives make it rough for business community,” July 10
Donna Cassata of the AP portrayed Conservatives incorrectly and played to the liberal playbook perfectly. Cassata confuses support of big business for support of free market, small government policies. Conservatives make it rough for big business to receive subsidies, bailouts and advantages because that is their job under the Constitution. Congress has enumerated powers, none of which include supporting their friends in big business. When Sen. DeMint decries cronyism and corporate welfare, he is the hero of everyone who does not have special privileges and government advantages. It’s expedient to say that Conservatives stand in the way of progress, but that message really means that Conservatives oppose unsustainable government spending that will add to the deficit and burden young people with even more debt. Let’s bring this country back to a free market with limited government where big business has to compete for customers, not government privileges.
Roger Custer
Washington
A timely tribute
Re: “Vin Scully, the voice of summer,” July 9
Wishful thinking — wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Nationals’ TV announcers mirrored — at least in a small way — the professionalism of the LA Dodgers’ “voice of summer,” Vin Scully. Without a color partner, or home team bias, Vin gently takes his audience through the game’s play-by-play action, mixing quiet time with delightful present and past baseball-related tales of the human-interest variety. I’m sure that after you get a dose of Scully, you’d be anxious to forget about two- and four-seam fastballs, back-, front- and side-door sliders — pitchers that were once known as curves and screwballs. What’s the point? Get a taste of Scully, or Baltimore’s Jim Palmer, and you’ll know where I’m coming from.
Buddy Rowe
Rockville
Don’t blame globalization
Re: “Globalization is the real cause of American economic woes,” July 10
R.C. Kreutzberg blames globalization for our economic problems. If he were right, the years following the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 should have been the Glorious Epoch of Full Employment instead of the Great Depression.
I suggest, instead, looking to the land speculation and the real estate cycle as the main cause of unemployment and recessions. We had quite a bit of globalization five years ago, but we did not have today’s unemployment rate. Back then, we were at the peak of the speculative bubble, and now it’s burst.
If we don’t want to repeat the cycle, we should replace taxes on production and earnings with taxes on land values. Then resources won’t be diverted into worse than useless speculation, people won’t be priced out of housing and people who enrich society by honest work won’t be punished for it.
Nicholas D. Rosen
Arlington
