THE PUBLIC MIND: PROOF OF ECONOMIC PUDDING IS IN EATING

Dear Editor:

I disagree wholeheartedly with Peter Kinder's column of March 31.

Mr. Kinder claims the Democratic administration of President Carter was to blame for the gas shortages and the breakdown of the economy of the 1970s.

Let's look at a few facts of the time.

1: The oil companies reported the largest profit margin of their existence.

2: Industry also reported excessive profits during this same time.

3: The people were being bamboozled by the industrial giants. Why?

The industrial military and big business created the image of shortage, to cover their moving to foreign soil with their manufacturing processes.

It was our own auto industry who had helped Japan and Germany to their feet after the war.

A Republican had given them tax breaks for doing so. After having made a success of the rebuilding process, they had to develop markets and the American market was wide open.

Among the many purposes they had in mind was the endorsing of U.S. labor to accept their cuts in wages, the implication being if labor wished to continue the rise in the standard of living they would move all activities to lower wage areas.

Proof of the pudding is in the eating: Reagan gave them a large tax cut number one, then he canceled or reduced the effectiveness of the labor laws which kept the union from striking by allowing the hiring of scab workers and using troops to open the plants.

By giving the industrial military all they wanted, we who have been active in trying to help our fellow man, have seen our taxes rise and the deficits rise and industry still moving out while yelling to buy American. They are shipping in all or most of the steel, iron and machine products such as engines for cars or even now at last admitting the importation of small cars under their name, rather than build and supply the machine shops here.

Knowing this I feel even if I buy a Japanese car I'm buying American.

Thanking you for your time I am an avid reader of your newspaper when I can get it.

William H. Allen

Perryville