Editor,
Your reader Ed Hickey seems to make a part-time job out of spouting his opinion about politics, government and society without the benefit of a source other then Fox News. Just “Google” any of his claims about the economy, energy independence, employment statistics, exportation of energy and infrastructure. All of his “facts” are bogus.
His recollections of what it was like under the Trump Administration have nothing to do with the truth. The tax cuts passed by Trump benefitted only the most wealthy of our nation, and little was accomplished for the middle class. His administration had resignations and indictments of his “only the best” people demonstrating the highest turnover of cabinet and advisors in history. Chaos ruled during his administration and almost nothing was accomplished legislatively.
I don’t hold Trump responsible for the pandemic but I do hold him accountable for the hysteria and anti-science attitude. This caused us to lose hundreds of thousands of people more than we would have lost if he had believed in science and supported their efforts.
Under Trump, Bolton dissolved the Global Health Team and relieved or reassigned many of the experienced administrators and scientists. Trump followed up with killing the independent watchdog agency that could have helped track COVID and help us intervene. Yes, he did initiate “Operation Warpspeed,” but when the vaccine became available he undermined it and encouraged others to resist its use under the guise of “individual or religious freedom.” We have a responsibility to each other in an open society and it’s not about “every man for himself.”
With COVID we had a once in a century economic situation that caused the economy to struggle and produce anomalies, such as reduced gas prices (due to reduced demand) and wildly fluctuating consumer costs. You don’t remember the “toilet paper wars?”
At present our economy is leading the world in its recovery and the stock market has reached never before highs. There is still work to do but we have near full employment and most people have gotten raises and have no qualms about spending in spite of high interest rates. When I bought my first home the mortgage was over 10% and today’s market has nearly everyone who owns a home sitting on a tidy investment. “Hang on to what you’ve got” is the current mantra if we are to tame inflation and leave an economy where our children can prosper as we did.
Mr. Hickey’s paranoia about the “invasion” of our Southern border is Fox fear mongering. Congress had the chance to establish reasonable guidelines for asylum seekers and a way to transition “dreamers,” but Trump killed the initiative because he wanted chaos as an election issue. We need immigrants in this country because this is a vast and diverse country. Our birth rate has significantly declined and if there is to be someone working to pay into Social Security, we need more people. Immigrant labor fueled our growth as a nation, built our railroads and interstate highways and feeds our nation through their willingness to work hard to achieve the American dream.
Will we remain a democratic nation or will we descend into the anarchy of January 6th and the elevation of a demagogue because some people believe him to be the second coming of Christ? Remember, Trump has already had his chance and he failed.
Charles Niedzialkowski
Oak Harbor
