Obama’s failures
A Jan. 9 letter says that we are to thank Barack Obama for the success of our current president in his first year. The entire eight-year term of Obama saw the degrading of our country, its borders and its relations with our allies, and our enemies were emboldened.
In only a year, we have seen Obama’s policies almost entirely wiped out, and as a result our economy has taken off, our enemies fear America once again, border security is stronger and taxes were lowered for over 80 percent of Americans.
Because of Obama’s failures and the incompetence of the Democrats and Congress, Trump was elected. America was given false hope-and-change rhetoric, corruption, open-border policies, higher taxes, health-care takeover and higher prices, and enemies that no longer fear our great country.
The Democrats can hate the man and rightfully criticize his policies, but it is their fault he is in the White House.
Dean Tate, Newberry
Transfer of wealth
When we already have unacceptable levels of transfer of income and wealth to a tiny cabal of the wealthy at the very top, Republicans further decrease taxes for their wealthy patrons. The budget deficits created by the GOP will be used to prove that the federal government itself will no longer be able to afford infrastructure repairs, public education, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other social service and public health programs.
The stage is set for even more slashing of budgets, transfer of federal funding responsibility to the local level and privatization of federal programs. The GOP tax plan will weaken our economy for years by reducing demand, widening inequality and increasing the national debt by $1.5 trillion over the next decade.
Shame on the greedy Republican corporate backers who have engineered this. Shame on Trump and the Republicans who have mislead us about its consequences.
F. Douglas Stephenson, Gainesville
Industrial crimes
Recent climate articles have focused on rising sea levels and the distant prospects of coastal inundation, but they don’t mention the destruction of life in the oceans. Fish populations and coral reefs have declined by 90 percent since I was a boy yet fossil fuel use, CO2 acidification and the warming of oceans, overfishing and chemical agriculture have increased.
No political party will shed the influence of entrenched corporate interests, so all environmental rhetoric over the last 50 years has been hot air. Still we are taxed to pay for bureaucratic coverups and pricey projects to kick the can down the road when the stroke of a pen could reverse Earth's fatal disease — publicly subsidized industrial crimes against nature.
Long before many get their feet wet, the world will be thrown into chaos by hundreds of millions of refugees fleeing agriculture failure and the absence of seafood — just ask any marine scientist not employed by government.
Randall Lance, Wellborn
All guilty
In the new best seller, "Sloppy" Steve Bannon says Don Trump Jr.'s meeting with Russian agents was treasonous and unpatriotic. He is right. It is treasonous. Bannon didn't deny making the statement but said his statement really was aimed at Paul Manafort. The fact is that Don Jr., Jared Kushner and Manafort are all guilty of treasonous activity.
So here's the test question: If you received an email (or any communication) from an agent of any foreign nation and particularly enemy powers, would you report it to the FBI, CIA and any other American intelligence agency, or would you meet with the enemy agents and keep it secret?
Any patriotic American knows the answer. I'm curious how Trump and his supporters would answer this question.
M.L. Stein, Williston
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