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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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111389
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11138900.064
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1990-09-19
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LETTERS, Page 4IS GOVERNMENT DEAD?
"We deserve, and we will get, exactly what we vote for."
Jim Daniel
Gualala, Calif.
Your report on "The Can't Do Government" was a breath of fresh
air (NATION, Oct. 23). When Reagan came into office, Americans
closed the door on the pain of the '60s and '70s and covered their
heads with a baby blanket in a massive denial of reality and
responsibility. Politicians just reflect the voting majority.
William B. Dittmer
Portland, Me.
It has been said a conservative is a liberal who got mugged.
In the 1990s a liberal may be someone who asked for help and found
government didn't care.
Robert Murphy
Providence
You point to the "fundamentally flawed" approach of the Reagan
and Bush Administrations toward government as the root of the
problem. You might have noted, among other things, that the Johnson
Administration's guns-and-butter promises created a belief that
certain goods and services are a matter of birthright and that
putting the costs of those escalating programs on the backs of
succeeding generations is justified.
Clifford J. Harvison
Potomac, Md.
A White House official says hardly anyone "in the real world
. . . believes that the budget deficit matters." At last look I was
still a member of the real world, and to me the deficit does
matter. In the real world, when we bite off more than we can chew,
we have our spending privileges curtailed or, ultimately,
withdrawn. Most of us are neither able nor inclined to pass on our
fiscal irresponsibilities to others, let alone our children.
Laura R. Ference
Rockford, Ill.
You assert that "the problem . . . is that the country (is)
being governed badly." The American electorate punishes those who
try to govern well. The real problem is a spiritual one: the
American spirit now says take instead of give.
Larry W. Cracraft
Spencer, Ind.
In your one-sided article, you state that government exists "to
act in ways that improve the lives of its citizens and their
security in the world." Socialist governments have always espoused
this philosophy. We continue to see its results throughout Eastern
Europe. A conservative viewpoint is that government should do for
its citizens only what they cannot do for themselves -- period!
William E. Atwater
Carmel, N.Y.
TIME's cover brought up a poignant memory. The day Nixon
resigned, a group of tourists stood on the main-view terrace at
Mount Rushmore in early morning. Suddenly, just below Washington's
eye, a shaft of sunlight reflected from a piece of mica in the
rock. A murmur went up from the crowd. The ranger's voice said over
the loudspeaker: "Washington weeps for his country." The crowd
dispersed in silence.
Lillian Weimer
Treasure Island, Fla.