Dear Editor: I felt the need to respond to so many of the editorials I’ve seen lately espousing that we need higher taxes. In talking with many, I have found they fall in to two groups. Those that truly do not fully understand economics and those who understand very well the negative impact it will have but feel we should do it anyway because, "it’s the right thing to do."

 Many economists have said that more government and higher taxes will spell serious trouble for our already weakened economy. There is not room to list all, but here is a quote from one UCLA economics professor. "There are many historical precedents of bad policies following crises. The worst case was after the stock-market crash in October 1929, which produced a truly perfect storm of bad policies. Tax rates rose, tariffs rose, and both Presidents Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt strongly promoted industry-labor cartels that were designed to stifle domestic competition. In the absence of these policies, the Great Depression would almost certainly have been like every other US recession — short-lived and relatively mild……."

 I didn’t need this professor to tell me this. I grew up in a large close extended family. My great-grandmother spent many years teaching us this very thing. So much so we quickly learned to disappear if Hoover or Roosevelt’s name was mentioned for any reason. Now I am truly glad for those first person lessons — she lived it, saw it, knew it and warned us against it.

 Those who are putting the economy first in this election also need to consider the fact that we are a country at war — not in Iraq — but with Islamic terrorists all over. National security should be the priority. Remember what 9/11 did to our economy — and that was when things were going much better than now. An attack now would damage the economy much worse. If national security isn’t strong, well, it then really doesn’t matter what the economy does or doesn’t do.