Conservatives’ record, philosophy troubling

I don't completely disagree with the Nov. 9 letter “Conservatives offer the voice of reason,” but I take issue with most of it. The letter said, “Liberals have given us $11 trillion in debt.” That's not true; $8 trillion of that $11 trillion has been racked up under just three Republican presidents - Reagan, Bush I and Bush II.

Democratic President Bill Clinton gave our nation an annual budget that was in surplus. The government even stopped selling 30-year Treasury bonds because the budget deficit had been turned into a surplus during the Clinton administration.

The fact is that conservatives have historically opposed many of the things we take for granted today. In 1961, Ronald Reagan said, “If you don't stop Medicare, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in America when men were free.”

If you stop to imagine what life in America would be like today if conservatives had gotten their way over the years, America wouldn't be a very pleasant place for most of us to live. That's not to say they're wrong about everything today, but their track record and general philosophy should keep us skeptical of their true motives.

Adam Nicholson

Cedar Rapids