MurraySabrin.com

Chris Christie’s landslide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK_CeWepZCg&feature=youtu.be

The following letter to the editor was published in response to my letter.  The collectivist mindset is deeply embedded in the American people.

Constitution supports government programs

Regarding “We must end the welfare state” (Your Views, Nov. 3):

Ramapo College Professor Murray Sabrin’s suggestion that we should phase out the “welfare” state undermines the intent of the U.S. Constitution. The Founding Fathers specifically stated in the preamble the intent “to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense [and] promote the general welfare.”

Hence, the Constitution is intended (among other things) to promote the general “welfare” of all the people, not just those with wealth and privilege. Promoting the general welfare includes funding public education and public projects to benefit everyone. That includes funding roads and bridges, police and other first responders and protecting our food, water and natural environment.

It also justifies Social Security, unemployment insurance, Medicare and a public policy to promote full employment.

Ed Morley
Glen Rock

The following letter appeared in The Record on November 3.

We must end the welfare state

Regarding “For an economically and morally sound federal budget,” (Other Views, Oct. 31):

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., correctly criticizes President George W. Bush’s invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, which were supported by bipartisan votes in Congress.

Instead of having the American people pay for these unnecessary, immoral invasions of countries that were no threat to the American people, the Bush administration and both Democrats and Republicans in Congress decided to borrow every dollar, as much as $6 trillion, to continue our interventionist foreign policy.

But on the domestic front, self-proclaimed democratic socialist Sanders trots out the same, worn mantra, namely, that tax cuts are a “giveaway” to the rich. Tax cuts for everyone should be welcomed because they allow people to keep the fruits of their labor, a fundamental principle of economic freedom. In addition, Sanders asserts that the federal budget “creates” jobs. This is another myth of both the left and others who believe that federal spending is manna from heaven.

Although we see people hired because of government spending, we do not see the people who were not hired because of higher taxes and increased borrowing, which shifts resources from the private to the public sector. In short, government spending cannot create sustainable jobs.

I agree with Sanders that we need to develop a moral budget that makes good economic sense. That means phasing out the welfare-warfare state as soon as possible. Bringing U.S. troops home from around the world can end the warfare state virtually overnight. The welfare state can be phased out over the next 10 to 20 years, which would create a culture of personal responsibility and economic freedom instead of the massive redistribution of income caused by the Federal Reserve and federal spending programs.

Murray Sabrin

Fort Lee, Oct. 31