Romney’s cuts would hurt middle class

The Republicans have been selling America a myth. They continually refer to corporations and the wealthy as the “job creators.” In doing so, they have distorted the nature of our economy.

Our economy boils down to two basic components: capital and demand. They need to be in balance. You can have an abundance of capital and if there is little demand, the economy will not prosper.

Today, there is lots of capital. The availability of capital can be measured by interest rates, which are at historic lows.

However, demand for goods and services is weak. Demand comes from consumers who have some money to spend. The most demand comes from people with a high marginal propensity to consume (i.e. if they get an extra dollar, they spend it). In general, this means low-and middle-income people. In today's economic environment, the real “job creators” are the consumers.

When I read Mitt Romney's comments on proposed spending cuts (http://www.mittromney.com/issues/spending), I read about bold spending cuts and then “robust economic recovery with 4 percent annual growth.”

Almost every dollar of spending cuts takes money out of hands of low- and middle-income consumers. I wonder, was Romney asleep during his college economics classes? The huge spending cuts he has planned will have a recessionary impact on the economy.

Richard Greer

Cedar Rapids