Austerity

I found the editorial, "Europe's lesson for the GOP" (May 10) to be very interesting and somewhat perverted as it became a critique of the GOP for protecting rich people from paying taxes and not about fiscal management to avoid a crisis. I saw underPresident George W. Bushthe direction the United States was headed, and I felt that even he was spending too much taxpayer money. To lessen this nation's impending economic doom, I felt major belt tightening was in order. The Obama administration has not only horrified me, but also in my opinion it has prolonged the ordeal with its fiscal policy and Congress' rubber stamp.

We are in the most anemic recovery in modern history. The president is talking about boosting the economy and rebuilding the middle class, but Washington isn't doing squat. In fact, apart from the Fed -- which continues to hold down interest rates in the quixotic hope that banks will begin lending again to average people -- the government is heading in exactly the wrong direction: raising taxes on the middle class and cutting public spending. It's called austerity economics. Washington is still acting as if the budget deficit were the most important economic problem.

As the global economic crisis grinds into its fourth year, we now have a clearer sense of which countries responded appropriately to the crisis and those that perpetuated or aggravated their situation. That discussion must begin with a comparison of the differing approaches taken by European governments and the United States. Let's start in Greece, where I recently gave some lectures about the American presidential elections. Once the center of one of the world's most influential empires, Athens now finds itself at the center of the European crisis.

I found the editorial, "Europe's lesson for the GOP" (May 10) to be very interesting and somewhat perverted as it became a critique of the GOP for protecting rich people from paying taxes and not about fiscal management to avoid a crisis. I saw underPresident George W. Bushthe direction the United States was headed, and I felt that even he was spending too much taxpayer money. To lessen this nation's impending economic doom, I felt major belt tightening was in order. The Obama administration has not only horrified me, but also in my opinion it has prolonged the ordeal with its fiscal policy and Congress' rubber stamp.

Your recent editorial on European elections states that "the real lesson to be drawn from the rise ofFrance's Francois Hollande and others is that many in Europe are fed up with austerity measures" ("Rejecting austerity," May 9). Contrary to that assertion, the real lesson to be drawn from the European debt crisis is that a country cannot afford to be so deeply in debt that its prospective creditors are in a position to demand onerous loan covenants that are politically untenable.

ANNAPOLIS -- Gov. William Donald Schaefer, beset by tough economic times, won't be wining, dining and dancing with 900 invited guests to celebrate his second inauguration Jan. 16.Austerity is the byword. And the four post-inaugural receptions have been canceled.The inaugural committee mailed 16,000 invitations to public officials, Mr. Schaefer's friends and supporters of his political campaign. About 2,500 people are expected to attend the outdoor ceremony. But there'll be no parties for the select 900.It's just one more example of what Paul E. Schurick, the governor's press secretary, said will be a "low-key, austere and very, very traditional" inauguration.

"A politician is worth nothing if he cannot invent some interesting and unimportant issues to divert the eyes of the populace from the problems actually involved. " That quote is from the philosopher Will Durant in his essay, "Is Democracy a Failure?" It gets to the heart of the difficulties facing our politicians in the early 21st Century. An ever-increasing percentage of the people politicians represent and govern are aware of the "problems actually involved. " Their living standards are deteriorating.

In his annual "state of the judiciary" remarks, Chief Justice William Rehnquist warned that things must change in what he foresees as an era of "austerity." He believes future federal budgets are going to be less generous to his branch of government than has been true in the past.Given that many federal courts have overloaded dockets, this is not a promising prospect. Justice delayed is justice denied, as the saying goes, and if resources for the judiciary shrink or remain the same, there are likely to be even greater delays.

The economic and political tumult in Europe has continued this week with anti-incumbent votes in France and Greece as well as signs of disaffection in Italy, Great Britain and Germany. The electorate is angry, and the election results have raised renewed concerns about whether Europe's most debt-burdened countries will stick with their quest toward fiscal discipline. On this side of the Atlantic, it's tempting to view the uproar in purely parochial terms - out of concern that the U.S. economy will continue to be encumbered by the eurozone crisis.

So H. Ross Perot is belatedly a candidate for president with only a month and a day until voters go to the polls. Barring the greatest turnaround in public sentiment in all the annals of politics, he stands no chance to win. At mid-year, the Texas billionaire was a real contender, often edging the two major-party candidates in three-way opinion heats. Now, according to the latest samplings, he is down to single digits, a hero mainly to volunteers who put him on the ballot in all 50 states despite their disappointment over his July withdrawal.

Your recent editorial on European elections states that "the real lesson to be drawn from the rise ofFrance's Francois Hollande and others is that many in Europe are fed up with austerity measures" ("Rejecting austerity," May 9). Contrary to that assertion, the real lesson to be drawn from the European debt crisis is that a country cannot afford to be so deeply in debt that its prospective creditors are in a position to demand onerous loan covenants that are politically untenable.

The economic and political tumult in Europe has continued this week with anti-incumbent votes in France and Greece as well as signs of disaffection in Italy, Great Britain and Germany. The electorate is angry, and the election results have raised renewed concerns about whether Europe's most debt-burdened countries will stick with their quest toward fiscal discipline. On this side of the Atlantic, it's tempting to view the uproar in purely parochial terms - out of concern that the U.S. economy will continue to be encumbered by the eurozone crisis.

As the global economic crisis grinds into its fourth year, we now have a clearer sense of which countries responded appropriately to the crisis and those that perpetuated or aggravated their situation. That discussion must begin with a comparison of the differing approaches taken by European governments and the United States. Let's start in Greece, where I recently gave some lectures about the American presidential elections. Once the center of one of the world's most influential empires, Athens now finds itself at the center of the European crisis.

As defense strategists at the Pentagon carry out their review of how to make roughly $400 billion in cuts over 10 years, and Congress considers the possibility of reductions twice as large as required by the supercommittee's failure to reach agreement, one clear change in policy is appropriate: It is time to drop the longstanding assumption that U.S. ground forces must be capable of fighting two overlapping regional wars. Rather, ground-force planners should adopt a "1+2" framework, planning for one major war together with two smaller (but perhaps longer)

The Greek parliament approved a $113 billion austerity package that had been demanded by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund as a condition for receiving a $17 billion installment of the $160 billion "bailout" package negotiated last year. This cash infusion will allow Greece to avoid defaulting on debt obligations due in July and August. This is a precursor to negotiations on a new "bailout" package that must be created to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debt over the next five years.

"A politician is worth nothing if he cannot invent some interesting and unimportant issues to divert the eyes of the populace from the problems actually involved. " That quote is from the philosopher Will Durant in his essay, "Is Democracy a Failure?" It gets to the heart of the difficulties facing our politicians in the early 21st Century. An ever-increasing percentage of the people politicians represent and govern are aware of the "problems actually involved. " Their living standards are deteriorating.

In the final days of the campaign, even the Democrats were saying that maybe Dennis Rasmussen didn't have the personality to be executive. Too shy; too taken with status symbols; too thin-skinned. Partly true, partly perception. But it is not the main reason Rasmussen lost Tuesday.Rasmussen, who presided over an era of boom and growth (read: spending) in the county, was a victim of the anti-incumbency sentiment that is pervasive this year. Some of it was a result of tactical errors. The executive might have dealt with the tax revolt more constructively, taking his opposition directly to the people instead of to the Court of Appeals.

The first thing you have to understand is that, appearances to the contrary, the Harford County Council room is not designed to segregate the sexes like some assembly of the Islamic republic.True, the three female members sit on one side of the bench, in a variation of purdah, while the men sit on the other side, the presiding clergyman seated in the middle to preserve the separation.Actually, it's just that Mesdames. Heselton, Parrott and Pierno happen to represent Districts A, B and C. Messrs.

PORT-AU-PRINCE -Jean-Michel Frederick lives at the Petionville Club, near the golf course's ninth tee, with a grand view of the valley and the harbor. n That would have meant prestige a few weeks ago. Today it means sleeping with his family on the side of a hill inside a patchwork tent made of sticks and bed linens, wedged into a human collage of 30,000 fellow Haitians displaced by the earthquake. "Of course, we do not choose to live here, but it is safe from the earthquake and the Americans are here," said Frederick, as he stood in line with his mother and a thousand others, clutching the green Catholic Relief Services ticket that promised his family a two-week supply of food.