Letters to the Editor
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‘Awaiting the Food Tsar’
The City of New York is committed to helping all New Yorkers live healthier lives [Oped, “Awaiting the Food Tsar,” December 1, 2006]. Our effort to increase the supply of nutritious foods to communities with limited availablility of such items is evidence of this commitment.
With the “Healthy Bodega Campaign,” the Health Department is not removing whole milk from bodega shelves, but rather helping local store owners to offer more milk options. The bottom-line is New Yorkers have the right to healthier food options. Bodegas, or corner stores, are the primary source of food for many New Yorkers. The “Healthy Bodegas” Campaign helps community residents who want healthier choices on shelves closer to home, giving them more food choices, not fewer.
CANDACE YOUNG
Director of Physical Activity and Nutrition
NYC Health Department
New York, N.Y.
‘What They Would Do’
Marco DeSena sniffs that Rep. Charles Rangel and his fellow Democrats “never cared much for silly facts” about the impact of federal tax cuts on the American economy [Oped, “What They Would Do,” November 3, 2006]. Mr. DeSena says that the Bush tax cuts “shrank the budget deficit by almost half, from $423 billion to $248 billion” this year. Actually, the shrinkage in this year’s reported deficit is largely the product of a shell game by Congress and the administration. This year, the federal government borrowed $186 billion in Social Security payroll taxes (which are supposed to pay for Social Security benefits for retirees down the road) and used them to finance current expenditures such as the Iraq war and (you guessed it) the Bush tax cuts. When you add back this illusory $186 billion in “deficit reduction,” the real deficit is $434 billion — hardly a victory for supply-siders.
MATT GARDNER
Citizens for Tax Justice
State Tax Policy Director
Washington, D.C.
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