To the Editor:

I wanted to respond to a recent Letter entitled, “Student Debt Grows Due to Irresponsible Tax Cuts” which appeared in the Nov. 16-22 issue of North Country This Week.

Professor McNutt stated tax percent data from 1980 (in which Federal & State public university contributions were 60 cents on the student’s dollar) vs. today (less than 30 cents on the student’s dollar). Rather than the traditional, let’s tax more so we can spend more why not think about alternatives:

· Stop wasting federal and state revenues on frivolous, wasteful spending that does not deliver the same value as the public university education? Government leaders should make wiser business spending decisions before considering tax increases.

· Rein in entitlement spending and stop the fraud of those entitlement systems. How many friends of ours are perfectly healthy but collecting some form of government aid fully intended for the disabled or destitute?

· Reconsider, foster and invest in college alternatives – not every student should be expected to go to college, nor is it in his/her best interest vs. other, more employable options.

· Stop expanding college curriculum choices that have no redeemable employment value. These are only offered to increase university revenues, increase university professor headcount and lure high school students not tracking in traditional STEM or other curriculums (perhaps fewer Progressive Economics 101 courses for example?)

It isn’t voodoo economics that has caused our bloated federal and state government budgets from becoming unmanageable; it’s the lack of strong fiscal leadership at both levels of government who have brought us to this point.

Targeting the successful to redistribute and cover the sins of poor budgetary choices (it’s really quite simple: don’t spend more than you have) is not the solution. There are consequences for running state or federal debt to the levels this country has done…many of our elected leaders talk about that fact, they just don’t act to address it.

This situation is one of those consequences.

Steve Rombough

Massena