At the stroke of midnight

To the Editor: In George W. Bush'sÿfirst address to Congress last night, he outlined his proposed budget,ÿhighlighting the $1.6 trillion tax cut over ten years. In addition, the president spoke of increasing investment in education, law enforcement, Social Security, Medicare,ÿmilitary salaries, spending $2 trillion for debt reduction and leaving another $1 trillion aside as a contingency fund. It's interesting, our new President sounds like a Democratÿ-- tax and spend, spend and tax. While some Americans want a tax cut, most want the money spent on other priorities. What Bush said in his address last night is that we can have it all. Unfortunately there just isn't enough money. Even with the most conservative budget surplus projections and a booming economy -- like that of the past six years -- it would still be difficult to even balance the budget over the next 10 years. We went down this road in 1981 with Ronald Reagan and fell into record deficits -- must we do it again? The president says that everyone's priorities are his priorities, but it is now time to be fiscally responsible. So Bush must chose between his tax cut, which would add up to $2 trillion over 10 years once interest is calculated in, andÿpaying down the national debt coupled with increases inÿsocial programs such as education. Unfortunately, at the stroke of midnight, Bush will most likely choose his tax cut and turn back into a Republican.

Erik Komendant College '01

Harper's the right choice

To the Editor: I would like to address the students who seem to think that the Social Planning and Events Committee's choice of Ben Harper as Spring Fling's headliner is a bad choice. I ask you if the critics have ever seen him in concert. As someone who is a big fan of his music, I also ask that everyone to keep an open mind. His most recent album is rather rock-oriented, and he is quite able to make his older stuff really rock on stage. I would like to commend SPEC on their choice. They have chosen someone who will give a good show and really have a good time with college students. Moby may have been nice -- as more people have heard of him -- but Harper will open people to new music they've never heard. I'm excited about the concert, and hope everyone else will be. He is regarded as a leading musician in cutting edge genre. Let's just have fun.

Aaron Verstraete Engineering '02

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.