Letters: Not optimistic about economy

While Newsday's optimism is admirable as you remind your readership "as the drumbeat of grim economic news continues ... eventually, the music will change, and the dancing will resume" ["Looking bad, but keep faith," Editorial, Aug. 4], based on recent economic data, I do not share your sunny, detached view.

Global investors are synthesizing several important pieces of data and executing disciplined investment decisions as the Dow Jones average endures a 10 percent correction. Ratings agencies insisted that our federal government provide $4 trillion in meaningful cuts to the current budget deficit of $14.3 trillion.

While the U.S. House, Senate and the Obama administration achieved an agreement to reduce the deficit by $2.4 trillion over 10 years while raising the debt ceiling, investors are questioning the myriad assumptions in this agreement.

The dancing will resume but only when our elected leaders stop engaging in meaningless, pathetic, partisan debates and get serious about addressing our debt, restoring confidence in our capital markets.

Michael P. Mulhall, Rockville Centre
 

Your editorial is counterproductive. What needs to be understood is that things will not get better, and the dancing will not resume, if we continue to ignore the fundamental structural political and economic problems that are affecting America.

The most significant problem is the fact that our democracy is not working, because enough Americans do not vote and have allowed the privileged few and the ruling class to capture and control the way government works.

All Americans have a responsibility to ensure that our democracy does not fall into the abyss, and based on past voting records, the only way that can happen is if everyone can agree to put a restriction on their freedoms by enacting a law that imposes a fine on anyone who refuses to meet that responsibility.

Leo Montagna, Northport