To the editor:

While Dolph Simons Jr. presents one possible narrative in his Saturday Column of April 9, “Budget showdown didn’t have to happen,” I believe two main arguments he offers to defend his premise can be refuted.

First, Simons blames the Democrats. He explains that when they held both bodies of the Congress and the executive branch, they did nothing to constrain “government handouts” which he implied was the cause of the “gigantic, constantly growing debt.” We have had numerous instances in recent times where the same conditions existed for those in the Republican Party and nothing was done to control the debt and, in fact, the debt was increased. Maybe both parties are to blame.

Second, Simons voiced concern about the nation’s budget crisis and its “welfare and fiscal health…” which he implied was being given low priority for political purposes. While it is a fact that our budget is not balanced, why are targeted cuts toward our most vulnerable citizens the only answer? Perhaps we have a revenue problem.

We have given generous tax cuts to our most wealthy citizens and corporations without the concomitant promised increase in jobs and our economy. Maybe we should attempt another approach and raise taxes and end “government handouts” for these groups. Many of our large corporations paid no corporate tax and some of our wealthiest citizens pay less in tax than those less fortunate. As to political manipulation, it strains credulity to blame one party over another. I believe in that domain parity may exist and, in fact, Republicans may be playing the better game.