Dear Editor –

If President Obama is serious about cutting the deficit (and eventually the debt) to avoid discouraging foreign (China) treasury bond buyers and risking hyper inflation, here’s some suggestions he might consider.

Since the US government is the biggest single employer in the country (either directly or indirectly), he could insist on an across-the-board government employee pay cut of 5 to 10 percent, effectively immediately (rather than a “freeze to begin next year”). It would be best if it were pro-rated, say, a minimum of 5% for the lowest salaries up to 30% for those making more than $200,000 per year (including himself). Better to put ones own house in order rather than meddling with Wall Street and big bank CEO bonuses and salaries, which are none of his business.

Another thing that would help would be a mandatory cutback in government department budgets along the same line. It’s well known that department heads “pad” their estimates for the coming year, to cover contingencies and to “grow” their departments. I suspect this is one of the core reasons for the increasing deficit and debt, and would be simple to counteract, especially if done for several successive years, until government is “lean and mean” like it used to be. Remember when we all got personal computers and were told how much we’d save on bookkeeping and correspondence?

The idea might even filter down to state and local governments, where I’m sure there is an equal amount of ‘fat’ to be trimmed.

Think about it, President Obama. Do we really want to bankrupt our children and grandchildren?

Lee Webb

Naples, Fla., and Broomfield

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