More about budgets

Once again, the Oklahoman has run a letter spewing ignorance about budgets and the economy. In this case, Dennis Gronquist of Stillwater writes,

I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Republican. Not only that, I'm not a member of the Taxed Enough Already (TEA) party, although I've gone to city council meetings for several years armed only with a tea bag and words that are always ignored. My conservative feelings are simple: I must balance my budget with limited funds. Governments should do the same. It's as simple as that.

First off, wouldn't it be great if some right-winger actually wrote a coherent letter? I guess he's being clever by saying that his Republican-ness is something innate in his being, and not just some political party that he belongs to? Either way, it's clumsy. It's also pointless. Most real newspapers would avoid running letters with clumsy, pointless statements. But the Oklahoman isn't a normal newspaper.

(By the way, Dennis, in case you're reading this, you sound like you'd be a hoot at city council meetings-- is it any wonder that no one listens to you?)

In any case, after he gets his political affiliations out of the way, Mr Gronquist launches the same tired line about how if he has to balance his budget, then so should the federal government balance its budget.

YAWN.

It's sad that so many people can't see this: THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS NOT A HOUSEHOLD.

Informed people should know better, but the readers of the Oklahoman are hardly informed. And when the paper runs letters like this, it does nothing but lead to less-educated voters who support horrible policies for the economy.