McEUEN: Spending isn't justified

Tuesday's paper featured an interview with Sen. Crapo that laid out the economic future of our country. He stated that the top economists feel that within five years, our debt will have reached 100 percent of our GNP. Also, inflation will run rampant and interest rates will rocket upward.

Mayor Bloem, do you comprehend what this will mean for all Americans? Simply put, life as we have lived it will change radically and not for the better. Yet you and your council, along with your LCDC, continue to steamroll along with the concept for McEuen park. Even if these plans are modified, they will cost millions of dollars.

And this does not even begin to calculate future upkeep on the park. You state that taxes will not increase. You tell us that the cost is as yet unknown. How then can you state that taxes will not be raised? You cannot.

Economically speaking, very hard choices must be made on the federal level. One option is to change the tax law doing away with, among other things, the mortgage interest tax deduction. For many Americans this deduction is the largest. Without it the tax obligation will greatly increase. It therefore follows that quality of life will change radically. It would be unconscionable, given the economic realities this country faces, to go forward with this financially ruinous plan just to upgrade a park.

DIANE DePRIEST

Hayden