To the editor:

Truth, the first casualty of war, also fares poorly in political campaigns. Since I am not running for  office, I can point out some facts that might deserve attention as the season progresses.

1. Government spending can’t be cut significantly, at any level, without putting  people out of work. The bulk of government spending goes for wages and salaries. 

2. Cutting taxes will not make businesses create jobs. Businesses hire people to do the work to meet demand, not because they have more money.  

3. Cutting taxes will not get rid of the deficit. Reagan inherited a deficit of $70 billion. He cut taxes and left office with a deficit of $200 billion. No level of taxation in recent memory has been so large as to put a brake on the economy.

4. There are government regulations that are silly and even odious, but the financial sector is not overregulated, and regulations on that sector are attempts to enforce one law: Thou shalt not steal.

5. National health care would be the best thing that ever happened to American industry. It is absolutely nuts that health care has fallen to employers.

6. Social Security is not a welfare program, and it is not a drain on the government. I pay 12.4 percent of my income and 6.2 percent of my employees’ income for it. Not only is it paid for, the government has been supporting itself in  part by borrowing from Social Security. Cutting benefits would constitute outright theft.