Thomas on the Gipper

Cal Thomas’ column (BDN, Feb. 26) is amazingly misleading. Talking about the desirability of new tax cuts, he praises Ronald Reagan, whose tax cuts (Thomas says) made government rvenues “explode.” Thomas blames the “Democratic Congress” in Reagan’s time for failing to reduce the deficit due to heavy spending on “its pet projects.”

It was Reagan’s combination of major tax cuts and colossal military spending that made government deficits explode and caused the national debt to triple in eight years. Democrats must share the responsibility because they went along with Reagan, but it’s not accurate to speak of a “Democratic Congress,” as the Republicans held a majority in the Senate for the first six years of Reagan’s presidency (the Democrats were the majority in the House). As for those “pet projects” of the Democrats, Thomas mentions not a one, nor does he blame Reagan for signing them into law.

Thomas says that under Reagan, the “proportion of personal income taxes” paid by the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans increased dramatically, while the “tax burden” on the poorest half decreased. He neglects to mention that the wealthiest 1 percent made staggering gains in income that far outpaced their tax payments or any gains in income by the poor.

“It’s our money, not the government’s,” Thomas declaims. “We make it. They take it.” He must believe we’re ruled by aliens from outer space, not people like Reagan whom we elect. If we follow Thomas’ prescription of new tax cuts, the rich will only grow more bloated. They need a No-Cal diet. Karl K. Norton Bangor