I read the March 16 story, “Cuts give Herrera Beutler pause: But GOP’s goal of reducing spending more vital, she says,” based on an interview of Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas. She is exactly right that, with our deficit spending crisis, we must be willing to reduce military spending by focusing our efforts on efficient national defense.
I also applaud her for voting to stop subsidizing public broadcasting after 40 years. My wife and I were Cornerstone members of OPB for many years and contributed thousands of dollars. Given our current deficit, however, it is time to allow public broadcasting to face the real world of relying on the voluntary support of their listeners to pay the bill. If supporters do not perceive the value in such media then, along with any business that cannot satisfy its customers, we should no longer force taxpayers to prop it up.
I also loved Herrera Beutler’s idea of cutting congressional and presidential salaries by 10 percent.
Although it will take much more than these few things to rectify a deficit in excess of a trillion dollars, we must start somewhere. Now is not the time for business as usual. We are drowning in red ink and it was refreshing to see that our congresswoman “gets it.”
