re:  The world as President Obama finds it

In his critique of President Obama's supposed timidity in confronting the still-persistent economic downturn and lack of recovery on the employment front, Paul Krugman continues to recycle untruths about taxes, spending, and history.

First of all, tax rate reductions — or the so-called "tax cuts for the wealthy" — are not the same as spending; rather, they are simply the government not collecting as much from each dollar earned from individuals and businesses.  "Tax cuts", even for "the wealthy", are not government spending and don't "cost" anything.  What costs money is things the government actually spends money on.  Intelligent, well-meaning people can debate whether or not such expenditures are necessary or beneficial, but it is not factually correct to consider a person keeping more of his own money a "cost" to the government.

Secondly, Dr. Krugman continues to advocate for higher taxes and increased government spending as the solution to our economic woes.  Yet history shows that Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt tried raising taxes (only on "the rich", of course) and increasing the size, scope, and expense of government to fight the economic downturn that started in 1929.  The result was, as we know, the Great Depression.

Sincerely,
Dave Smith
Houston, TX