To the Editor, At a recent local township council meeting, there was discussion about the upcoming municipal budget vote. After listening to a Republican operative beat up on the Democratic Passaic County Freeholder Board, as well as the state, I commented that President Bush’s deficit budget is creating higher taxes for our state, county and municipalities. The next speaker pontificated, saying something to the effect that “These meetings are supposed to be about local issues, not federal issues.” I beg to differ. In 2000, President Bill Clinton left the current administration with a $5.6 trillion surplus budget. By 2004, Bush had created $5.7 trillion deficit with his tax cuts. As of April 2006, it has reached $9 trillion. Vice-President Dick Cheney wasn’t kidding when he said, “Deficits don’t matter.” According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priority’s report, “Federal Policies Contribute to the Severity of State Fiscal Crisis,” Bush’s policies have cost states and municipalities $175 billion over four years from 2002 to 2005. These costs have averaged 8.4 percent of total state general fund budgets, quite a large amount. It has cost New Jersey roughly 5 percent of our budget. The federal tax cuts have further reduced state revenues. What about, you ask, the $300 tax “cut” the average citizen received? Compare that to higher fuel costs, higher tuition costs, and the now often cited $30,000-plus debt for each man, woman and child living in the U.S., which will be left for our grandchildren to repay, all thanks to this administration’s policy failures. Next, the federal government has put demands on state and municipal governments without adequately funding them. These unfunded mandates, $73 billion below the promised funding, include election reform, education of disabled children, and the No Child Left Behind Act. In addition, failure of the federal government to cover the costs of prescription medicines for low-income elderly and disabled individuals has left states to cover 43 percent of the costs. Finally, for each full point that the average interest rate on the debt rises, it means an extra $43 billion per year will be spent on interest. More money spent on paying bonds held by Chinese and Japanese central banks means less money spent on healthcare, education, infrastructure improvements, and defense. A weakened dollar buys less than it used to. In 2004, Bush promised to reduce the deficit by half of his second term. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, and the great state of New Jersey, Passaic County and our own West Milford end up paying higher taxes for Bush’s voodoo economics. Kathleen M. Caren West Milford