To the Editor:

In response to a recent letter by Ed Hodges.

Mr. Hodges talks about fiscal responsibility. If anyone thinks the Democrat party is for fiscal responsibility they must be having an illusion. The statement that there are some areas in which you just must spend money, without cutting too many corners, which, of course, as a teacher it’s education.

Governor Perdue didn’t veto the budget because she believed it was right and responsible. She did it because of her supporters, the NCAE, who don’t want any cuts, even with the North Carolina budget gap which is over $2.7 billion.

Then we have Smart Start. This is one of the biggest boondoggles ever. The budget for Smart Start is $3.9 billion. The North Carolina precedent for these programs’ annual compensation is $173,814. Then you have 65 state jobs, with nine salaries at $102,000 to $120,370; 10 at $90,000 to $98,000; 16 at $80,000 to $89,000; 31 at $70,000 to $79,000; 43 at $60,000 to $69,921; 37 at $55,000 to $59,000. This doesn’t include people on the local level. With all these incredible salaries, the people who run these programs are the ones who are smart.

Other programs are More at Four, Even Start, Fair Start, Head Start. Education takes up 60 percent of the state budget so that leaves only 40 percent to fund the rest of the state services. It’s time to cut out some of this money to the education monopoly, which has helped create this budget deficit. When this is done, I would call it fiscal responsibility.

JOHN SWINSON
Jamesville