Editorials / Opinion

Deficit should be dealt with on micro level

I am no fan of the sequester: Some of the programs cut by it are vital programs that should never have been touched [“Nobody budged,” page one, March 2].

But seeking a grand bargain is a recipe for a long, drawn-out battle, and will probably entail numerous capitulations to special interests. Instead, Congress should pass small bills to fix each program hurt by the sequester individually. And those who oppose such legislation should be held accountable for it on a program-by-program basis.

Preferably, these bills will be fully funded, so they don’t add to the deficit, but that is another story. Maybe tackling things in this manner will allow programs like Social Security, which do not contribute to the deficit, to be kept off the table.

–Benjamin Schreiber, Kirkland

Deficit from war has historical precedence

Debt reduction, the deficit, the fiscal cliff, it’s nothing new [“Obama, lawmakers trying for deficit deal,” News, March 7].

In his speech “War is a Racket,” Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler worried about the deficit spending from war that plagued the country and would have to be paid through “backbreaking taxation for generations and generations.” This is from a speech delivered in 1933.

The issue is the same, only the characters have changed.

–Randy Greger, Bothell