THANK GOODNESS we have the Globe editorial page to help keep the issues of the day in perspective (“Behind the ‘super’ failure: a deficit of political will,’’ Nov. 22). Your editorial on the failure of the deficit supercommittee notes that “discretionary spending still amounts to a mere 12 percent of the budget.’’ After all, what does it matter if you lose only 12 percent of your house in a fire, or your boss tells you that you will earn 12 percent less money next year, or if 12 percent of your 2.3 children don’t make it home from a field trip?
Only a sourpuss would carp that 12 percent of the federal budget amounts to about $400 billion, give or take a few dollars.
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George Mitchell
Hyde Park