There are several problems with Richard Swett’s My Turn in the Jan. 25 edition of the Monitor. First, and most important, is the oblique-at-best reference to what government should be doing to meet citizens’ expensive needs and conditions. Second, the idea that “Congress should…work towards stabilizing the debt to our Gross Domestic Product” is exactly backward. The spending Swett decries actually stimulates our economy and investment — unless billionaires syphon off too much — which then increases our GDP. Bless President Biden for fixing our infrastructure so we don’t fall into the river crossing bridges on our way to work. Finally, his attempt at bipartisanship is misguided. Republicans routinely resisted, fought and compromised away spending on needed projects leading to the horrible conditions that faced Biden during his presidency. See the “Ev and Charlie Show” of the 1950s, Reagan’s “starve the beast” mantra and the current “drain the swamp” refrain.

Raymond Chambers

Laconia