California’s problems started in the White House

As everyone knows, figures can be deceiving, especially when quoted by politicians and by people with political agendas.

Jennifer Powledge’s July 17 letter to The Acorn titled "Adios, Gray Davis" provides some party line "facts" that Fran Pavley’s earlier opinion supposedly omitted. While Powledge’s claim that the state’s revenue increased by 28 percent over the past four years may be true, at least the first two of these years of growth can still be attributed to the Democratic Clinton administration’s national financial growth policies that provided low unemployment and a flourishing economy for this country and California.

People paid taxes on greater earnings and stock market gains and filled federal and state coffers with an overflow of abundance for eight straight record years.

Why doesn’t Powledge inform us of how much less this state’s revenues have been over the past year or two of the Bush administration’s inept and disastrous handling of an economy that went from surplus to almost $500 billion in debt (and still counting), and impoverished just about every state in the country. We now have the highest number of home foreclosures ever, so many unemployed Californians who squeezed every equity cent out of their re- and re-financed homes and were still forced to give up their homes.

If not for home equity, there would be a lot more of us in financial trouble. (Which politician is willing to claim the credit for that?)

With a decent economy there would be no financial problems for our state, nor any for Gov. Davis. Have you heard of any unfairminded Democrats clamoring to recall President Bush, who wasn’t even elected by a majority of us, for his far greater financial ineptitude? While we can patiently wait to vote the president out a year from November, I’m not sure the less wealthy amongst us can survive the wait.

Rhoda Monkarsh

Agoura Hills