Letter of the day: Economic disaster is here, and there's no time for partisanship

It is frustrating to read letters complaining about the size of the Obama deficits and the economic disaster we face in the future (Letter of the day, March 29). They ask if we care about our children and the huge debt we are placing on future generations. Of course we do. None of us welcomes the huge debt projected to restart the economy and fix our ailing businesses and infrastructure. However, where were fiscal conservatives for the past eight years when many of us said the same thing, complaining about the massive debt compiled by the previous administration? We knew about Enron, we knew about the price manipulations of energy companies in California, we knew of the efforts to deregulate financial markets and the impending damage it might do to our financial institutions. There wasn't a huge outcry from fiscal conservatives then. Supposedly people who believed in fiscal responsibility were in control of the White House and Congress. Yet, they ballooned the size of government, allowed favored contracts in Iraq with little oversight, and basically were in charge of the beginnings and proliferation of the reasons we are in this mess. Complaining about the issues now is a little too late. We're in this together. Hopefully we can find a common way out. ROBERT SHUMER, EAGAN