I was offended by the letter to the editor printed Nov. 13. I find it very disheartening when a graduate student, like the author of that letter, does not have a simple understanding of the government. Specifically, the President is not responsible nor permitted to submit legislation to Congress so that they may come up with an adequate solution to the fiscal mess that past Republicans have gotten us into. Rather, it is Congress’ duty to create and agree on a proposal that the President does not feel obligated to veto.

The author of the letter titled Clinton is to blame also writes that the President has not spoken up on the GOP plan or on a balanced budget in general. I find it ridiculous that he expects the readers to believe that. It was not very long ago that the President was on SIUC’s campus talking about the GOP education cuts. Furthermore, the Republican led Congress has not permitted a Democrat plan to pass through committee to be considered in Congress.

It is interesting to note that the letter did not mention that in the past two and a half years, President Clinton and Democrats in general have cut the deficit nearly in half to $160 billion down from $1 trillion over seven years. It does not mention that at the end of President Bush’s term the unemployment rate was more than 7 percent, and as of August it has been reduced to 5.6 percent. It does not mention that the overall job growth from 1989 through 1992 had the worst record since the Great Depression, and since President Clinton was elected, 7.3 million new jobs were created. That is a better record than any Republican administration since the 1920s. These are just a few of the things that our president has done for our country. What does it mean? It means it is time for the Republicans to stop worrying about the $245 billion tax break they have proposed for the wealthiest people in our nation and come up with a plan that will benefit all Americans and our future.

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