Durbin says he’s a fine choice for deficit panel

To the editor:

Your Feb. 25 editorial ("Reid fumbles") contains a number of errors, and I would like to set the record straight.

You state, "Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 man in the Senate, is a partisan hack who has never worked a day in the private sector as an adult." That's simply wrong; in fact, before I came to Congress, I managed and owned, not one, but two small businesses.

I was the co-owner and manager of a restaurant in my hometown of Springfield, Ill., for years and later owned and managed a small law firm. Like millions of other small business owners, I know what it means to manage cash flow, make payroll, deal with budgets and suppliers and all the rest. That's hardly someone who's never worked a day in the private sector.

Your larger point, that three U.S. senators are unfit to serve on the new deficit commission because they have the temerity to be public servants who have repeatedly earned the trust of their constituents, is also specious. Had you picked up the phone, we could have explained my role in the last significant bipartisan budget agreement in 1997, where we crafted a package of tax changes, entitlement cuts and budget controls that helped generate the first balanced federal budget in nearly 30 years.

Sen. Harry Reid picked individuals with the experience, commitment and desire to put this country back on the track of fiscal responsibility. It seems the Review-Journal just wanted to pick another fight.

You say Nevadans and all Americans deserve better. So do your readers.

Dick Durbin

Washington, D.C.

The writer, a Democrat, represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate.

A man, a plan

To the editor:

The time could not be better to remove Sen. Harry Reid from office. But he is a shrewd politician, able to take advantage of opponents' missteps, so anti-Reid advocates must band together to deny any advantage to the senator and his supporters.

But now comes Scott Ashjian, who foolishly is willing to split the anti-Reid vote by running as a candidate for the "Nevada Tea Party" in opposition not only to Sen. Reid, but also to the nominated Republican candidate. Such action will not gain the seat for Mr. Ashjian, but will allow Sen. Reid to slip into re-election.

There couldn't be a better Democratic plan to re-elect Sen. Reid than Mr. Ashjian continuing his Quixotic campaign for the U.S. Senate.

Makes one wonder if Sen. Reid is that Machiavellian.

William F. Brennan

Las Vegas

Dead man walking

To the editor:

Why does Sen. Harry Reid keep insisting that the American people "want" the Obama version of health care reform when all the polls show exactly the opposite? Now he is threatening to use the simple majority "reconciliation" strategy to shove this flawed bill through the Senate and down the throats of the American people.

If he succeeds, he had better "reconcile" himself to the fact that he will then be a dead man walking down the halls of Congress until November, at which time senior voters, worried about cuts in Medicare and the cost of this policy, will show him the door.

But don't fret, Sen. Reid. There's always a spot for you with the lobbyists on K Street.

BRUCE BROWN

LAS VEGAS

No growth

To the editor:

Rather than a tax overhaul, how about a spending overhaul ("Legislators vow tax overhaul," Tuesday Review-Journal)? The majority of revenue increases will eventually come from the pockets of Nevada citizens. It's time those fools in our Legislature understand that government is not a growth industry.

Doug Mekkers

Las Vegas

Spend mentality

To the editor:

The recent actions of our state legislators in closing the almost $900 million revenue shortfall show that our elected officials fear unions and other employee groups more than they fear the electorate. Why do I make this assertion? We need only look at the results of the special session to draw this conclusion.

A very large percentage of state spending goes toward wages and salaries. If state spending were reduced by $900 million, most of the reduction would be in the form of wages and salaries. But instead of reducing spending by $900 million, our legislators reduced spending by only $317 million, raised taxes and fees on the denizens of Nevada by $174 million and robbed from trust funds and other government entities the remaining $397 million needed.

By spending $570 million beyond the $317 million cut from the budget, our elected officials continue to curry favor with union and non-union employee groups which, in turn, continue to funnel re-election funds their way so the wheels continue to be greased.

I say sweep them all out this coming November. Send a new group of representatives to Carson City in February 2011 to deal with budget needs.

Let's rein in this tax-and-spend mentality.

Ron Ecklund

Henderson