http://www.syracuse.com/search/index.ssf?/base/business-4/1074850842322970.xml?syrbubizInvestor Martin J. Whitman first came to Syracuse University just after World War II, under the G.I. Bill of Rights, a federal program conceived when the country was running deficits that Whitman says was a good use of taxpayer money.
Whitman, Class of '49 and nearly 80, was back in Syracuse on Thursday, in a building with his name on it and in an economy newly stung with word of extensive layoffs at Kodak and a deepening federal deficit.
The U.S. economy in one Whitman word?
"Sucks," said Whitman, known as a straight shooter.
So what's the first step to right it?
"The biggest thing we have to do about it is get rid of the Republicans," said Whitman. "It's just a disaster. I'm more a use-of-proceeds person than I am a deficit person.