What can I say?

I am impressed that my letter [“Some self examination is in order,” Village News, Opinion, 5/17/07] evoked responses from Jon Monday and Joe Howard Crews. It must have been good!

Jon Monday’s letter illustrates vividly our philosophical differences. I say that he is fundamentally wrong on some points but his views are classically those read in liberal literature. He acknowledges that John Bolton and Paul Wolfowitz are intelligent but says they were inappropriate for their jobs. That opinion has no factual substance. The criticism of Wolfowitz that he gave his girlfriend a big raise ignores the fact that he offered to recuse himself from matters affecting her and was told it wasn’t necessary and she would be entitled to a raise considering the disruption to her career by leaving the World Bank. This has been thoroughly covered in the Wall Street Journal.

Jon’s comments about the economy are not so but consistent with liberal orthodoxy. The number of poor has declined. While it is true the richest have also benefited, this is where investment money that drives a dynamic economy comes from. The socialist agenda that throttles wealth creation always has a negative economic effect.

Mr. Monday’s assertion that the economy boomed under Clinton and collapsed under Bush is not supported by the facts. The mild recession at the end of the Clinton Presidency was well underway when Bush took office and his tax cuts brought the country out of it quickly.

As for Mr. Crews, nowhere did I predict an economic collapse. The reality is that all income levels are better off today than they were six years ago. Sure, there are plenty who are stretched to the limit, but for the most part that is because they made choices such as buying the big SUV instead of a more fuel-efficient car, so they have big car payments and big gasoline bills.

The liberal orthodoxy is rooted in socialism, which has been demonstrated to be a failure compared to free market capitalism over and over again. But the socialists never give up.

Glen Holzhausen