Editor, The Smithfield Times:

In her letter to the editor last week (“Trump beats the alternative”), Ms. Helen Eggleston wrote, “…under the present administration my beloved country is going to hades in a handbasket.” 

She provided no facts to support this poetic cliché. So I’m wondering what she’s talking about? It takes a lot of spin from an alternate universe to put such a negative interpretation on the Biden administration’s accomplishments.

With the American Rescue Plan of 2021 Biden got us through COVID-19 and the disastrous effects on public health, the economy and education. FBI data show the violent crime rate is lowest since 1969. More people signed up for health insurance than ever before. Biden capped the cost of out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare, including a cap on insulin to $35 per month. His bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act created some 14.8 million jobs during his first three years, “outperforming any previous president,” according to Bloomberg.com. Unemployment is below 4%, lowest since the 1960s.

Biden reversed Republicans’ “trickle down” economic policy, which has never worked except for billionaires and corporations. Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman has written about the failure of “trickle down” for years. Biden’s economic policies support American workers and the middle class. As a result, salaries rose, and last year, income increases outpaced price increases. Americans across all income groups have more income than ever, the stock market is soaring, and no recession occurred.

 Are you still paying too much for groceries and gas? Yes, due primarily to supply chain disruptions and pandemic shortages, but the inflation rate is falling. “The rapid disinflation under Biden is unmatched in modern history,” says Bloomberg. From a rate of 9.1% in 2022, we’re now at 3.1%, and the Fed expects this decrease to continue such that it can lower interest rates at least once before the end of this year.

The Inflation Reduction Act is addressing climate change and creating thousands of jobs in renewable energy to mitigate extreme weather conditions such as flooding and wildfires caused by global warming.

So, Ms. Eggleston, what are you talking about? Everyone needs to think seriously about both who and what they are voting for. By every measure, our beloved country is in good hands. Are you willing to vote for a mentally unstable, pathological liar, convicted felon?

 

Mary Batten Bland

Smithfield