Saturday, April 28, 2018
Blaming job losses on
Trump gets tiresome
There he goes
again, joining Sen. Sherrod Brown and Congressman Tim Ryan, fixing the blame. Sunday’s April 22 Bertram de Souza column with the headline “Blame Trump for job losses” is so tiresome.
Oh, how I miss Thomas Sowell. Ironically Mr. Sowell’s columns contained more facts than many
Associated Press straight news stories.
My sense is that if Sowell assessed the Lordstown reduction in employment, he would point out that the forces of our free market are at play. The demand for smaller vehicles has fallen.
Although that is very unfortunate for our hard working friends and neighbors at Lordstown and for our Valley’s economy, it is the result of consumer choices. And many of those consumers live in the Valley. If you do not drive a Cruze, you are contributing to our problem.
Mr. de Souza would have us believe that President Trump or General Motors is to blame for employment reductions at Lordstown. GM has limited resources, as do all corporations and small businesses. Those resources move to where the demand is. It is a harsh system at times, but that is why we have the strongest economy on the planet.
Bertram draws correlations between corporate
actions and the Valley’s economic state. But as Thomas Sowell so elegantly explains; “correlation is not causation.”
Sen. Brown and Rep. Ryan have a combined
total of nearly 50 years in politics. President Trump has been in office for less than one year and four months. In that relatively short time, the stock market has surged, unemployment is down, corporations have brought millions of dollars back to the U.S.,
business-stifling regulations are being reduced, our economy grew more than 3 percent in 2017, and illegal border crossings are down.
There are more accomplishments, but the reduction in taxes and changes to tax laws will fuel our economy for decades. I doubt that those who disagree with all of President Trump’s policies, even the most dedicated Trump thumpers, will return their tax reductions in protest.
President Trump has his faults, no doubt. His communication style is wanting. Some of his comments make me cringe. But, do we want a smooth talker or
results?
Joe LoCicero, Canfield
Cost of education makes
case for Boardman levy
I am a 42-year resi-
dent of Boardman. Each of my two children and three stepchildren received a kindergarten through 12th-grade education in the Boardman Local Schools.
The price tag was $667,420, a financial responsibility that I cannot begin to fulfill on my own. According to the Ohio Department of Education’s Cupp Report and the Mahoning County Auditor, it takes over 60 years of property taxes on a $100,000 home to pay for ONE child’s K-12 public school education in Boardman. It is plain to see that “it takes a community” of committed residents of all ages, regardless of whether or not they have school-aged children, to support and maintain a quality school system.
It surprises me, as I become aware of how many of my friends, family members and neighbors are of the mindset that their financial responsibility to their local school system ends on the graduation day of their youngest child. According to the figures listed above, that is very, very far from the truth.
Please vote for the Boardman school levy May 8.
Dean Wilson, Boardman