Editor,
Many Nisqually Valley News voters are busy with their lives and haven't had a chance to remember history.
Economy: Bill Clinton (D) left the federal budget balanced and erased the federal deficit. George W. Bush (R) took us into a 20-year war in Afghanistan/Iraq. He didn't put those wars or his tax cuts on the books, and he left us the Great Recession and housing disaster. Barack Obama (D) put Bush's war on the books so the deficit went sky-high. He spent eight years putting the economy back together and left Donald Trump (R) a great economy. Trump's tax cuts and trade war with China left us in debt. It had risen to $23.2 trillion by the end of 2019, up by 39% since he took office, taking us into a recession before COVID-19 hit. Joe Biden (D) pulled us out of that recession. The Stock Market was at an all time high of 43,051.66 points, new jobs in September were 254,000, unemployment is at 4.1%, and inflation is down to 2.44%. I know many local businesses that are thriving.
Gas prices were down in 2020 because everyone was stuck indoors due to COVID-19. On Jan 18, 2021, before Biden took office, gas was $2.38. Crude oil production has increased. The daily average for the most recent 12 months is 15.3% higher than the average in 2020, and it’s higher than the pre-pandemic average.
Tariffs: Tariffs on imports are typically paid by the importing businesses, which are usually domestic firms. However, these businesses often pass the increased costs onto consumers in the form of higher prices for imported goods.
Immigration: Republicans say the border is open. The traffickers take those words and show them to desperate people and encourage them to come here. A bipartisan group headed by a Republican wrote a bill to fix the border, but Trump told them not to vote on it as he needed the issue to run on. If he gets rid of all the immigrants, who is going to pick our cherries, peaches and apples? Fentanyl comes through legal ports of entry by car and truck. No trafficker will trust his precious cargo to an immigrant.
Crime: Violent crime has gone down. Figures from large cities show a 9.1% drop in murders from 2020 to 2023, and data from more than 200 cities show a continuing decline so far this year.
Florence Vincent
Tenino
