Editor,
I frequently hear that people are inclined to vote for Donald Trump because they trust him more on the economy, citing, for example, how prices were better during his term.
The good economy was for Trump a coincidence, not an achievement.
No one elected to the presidency is handed a magic wand: every president has had to live with the policies of his predecessor for the first year or two. Likewise, no one is given a crystal ball upon taking the oath of office; presidents must deal with surprises. Last, a president’s most important job is to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” according to the Constitution. Without a law, little but talk occurs.
So saying, Donald Trump’s “success” in the economy early on was just the continuing success of Obama’s policies. Trump’s single noticeable action was a tax cut for very, very rich people, increasing the federal deficit a lot. We all pay for that, so Trump helped already rich people with one hand, giving us the bill with the other. This is a constant with Republican presidents, no matter how much they talk about “fiscal responsibility.”
That COVID arrived and froze much of the world economy was not his fault, but his ideas to inject bleach, etc., are still so stupid, and his pretending that COVID wasn’t a major problem was wholly irresponsible. Who needs that?
Classic, aggressive fiscal policy got most of us through the downturn pretty well. Thank the Democrats. A spike in inflation occurred, as did a spike in wages, as the economy, freed of COVID and buoyed by Biden’s policies of investment in our country, recovered. Egg prices went up due to chickens having to be killed off to prevent the spread of an avian flu; gas and food prices went up due to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and other routine factors. That’s not presidential policy, that’s just the world doing what it does.
We are through that now, with very good economic policies in place, and the best performing economy in the world. Why go back to failed Trump and Republican policies?
John Seyfried
Bayview
