An open letter to Senator Johnson

To the Editor:

I am very disappointed that HR1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, will not reduce the deficit. HRI increased the federal debt limit by $5 trillion dollars; congress knows the deficit will increase under this bill!

We need to get our national debt under control. We cannot pass this huge deficit to our children. We are paying more on interest on our national debt then on our military budget! The U.S. debt rating is decreasing so interest rates on our debt will increase.

We must eliminate unneeded spending; abuse, fraud, and waste. Where is congressional oversight. DOGE is cutting congressionally authorized programs without an audit. That we are trying to rehire meteorologists, scientists at the food safety lab, employees at the national nuclear security administration and others tells us this is not well thought out. Don’t let the executive branch usurp your congressional authority.

Taxes are never popular; they are necessary to fund needed expenses congress approves. Back in the 1950s and 60s, when America was great, higher taxes were wisely used to build infrastructure, improve public schools, support research, improve our defense, and pay down the debt from World War II. Our country thrived!

The tax cuts of 2001 and 2017 did not pay for themselves. I’ve criticized my Democratic friends for supporting ‘tax and spend.’ We have become the party of ‘borrow and spend!’ Tax cuts did not trickle down to workers as promised-stock dividends and buybacks increased instead.

I once supported the ‘trickle-down’ theory; the full name is: ‘torrent up and trickle down.’ If consumers can’t afford to buy, the economy won’t do well and the wealth gap will increase.

Our economy is doing well. Now is the time to pay down our huge debt! I look forward to hearing from you on how congress can step up and make the difficult choices needed to get our debt under control.  

William Wright

Rhinelander