OPINION:
In “To win the White House, talk jobs” (Web, April 11) Donald Lambro writes, “Go to the Gallup website that lists the issues that trouble Americans most and you’ll find the economy and jobs are far and away the ’most important problems’ they face … . Republicans should be relentlessly pounding this issue with all they’ve got.” If a Republican is elected president in 2016, he will discover what Barack Obama discovered in 2009: It is easier to run against a bad economy than it to fix it.
The Republican panacea for the economy is tax cuts for the rich. We should have learned by now that tax cuts for the rich do not lead to jobs for the unemployed. During the Carter administration the top tax rate was 70 percent. An average of 2.6 million jobs were created per year. During the Reagan administration the top tax rate was reduced to 28 percent. An average of 2 million jobs were created per year. During the Clinton administration the top tax rate was raised to 39.6 percent. An average of 2.9 million jobs were created per year. Finally, during the Bush administration the top tax rate was reduced to 35 percent. An average of 375,000 jobs were created per year.
Although I am a Democrat, I am not satisfied with the economic performance of President Obama. I never considered him to be my Messiah. I patiently wait for the Second Coming of Franklin Roosevelt.
JOHN ENGELMAN
Wilmington, Del.
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