Read Trump indictment; Biden jobs; DeSantis hypocrisy; Fitch debt; Constitution | Letters

To be knowledgeable, read Trump Georgia indictment; be objective

While I don't suppose the regular letter writers to this paper who support Donald Trump no matter what will ever read any of the Fulton County indictment of Trump and others before they opine on these pages that the indictment is full of lies, an act of the deep state, a witch hunt, politically motivated, an attempt to damage Trump's campaign and so on, don't be fooled.

It is damning.

But more importantly, it will or should instill deep concern about the future of our democratic republic that the head of the U.S. government, Trump and his acolytes, including those that held positions in our government, could go to the extreme and unimaginable lengths that they did to try and keep him in office and declared president on Jan. 6.

Don't be fooled. Read the indictment and decide for yourself if Trump is the kind of person that you think should be president.

Tom Going, Vero Beach

Fitch U.S. debt downgrade warning nation's at tipping point

Should we be worried about the recent downgrade of U.S. debt by Fitch? It’s a warning.

With the government printing money and spending beyond its means, we are near the tipping point. Our national debt is $33 trillion. Our government’s annual income is about $5.5 trillion. The Federal Reserve is jacking up interest rates, and at 5%, the annual debt service is more than $1.6 trillion. That would leave only $3.9 trillion to cover national defense, Social Security, Medicare and the cost of running the government.

Here’s a wake-up call: We already spend more than $3.9 trillion.

Should we raise taxes? What we have learned from the past is that higher taxes reduce the amount of capital available for economic growth. Less growth leads to lower revenue from the higher taxes. John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump were right. In the long run, lower taxes encourage capital investment and unleash economic growth.

The real answer is not easily done — curtail spending, reduce taxes and shrink the size of government. This will not go unnoticed by the markets. Inflation will drop, as will interest rates. Right away, the economy will boom. Revenues will grow faster than spending, and within a few years, we can begin to address the debt.

Both parties are at fault, but the current administration has greatly accelerated the problem. Next November, vote for the candidates who will cut spending, taxes and the size of the bureaucracy. It’s important.

Tom Miller, Vero Beach

Building back American manufacturing or culture wars? Your choice

As an old man, I understand the concerns some of us have about Joe Biden’s age and physical fragility. I, too, have such concerns about my health, including stamina, strength and cognition. Such concerns are a normal response to aging and an acknowledgement of our own mortality.

Joe Biden wasn’t my choice as the 2020 Democratic nominee for president. However, as a moderate independent, I had far more confidence in Biden’s emotional stability, governmental experience and overall competence to execute successfully the awesome responsibilities of an American president.

Biden was born into a working-class Irish Catholic family. He didn’t inherit more than $400 million from his father. Because of his severe stutter as a child — which some deplorable individuals shamelessly cite as evidence of a mental deficit — he was humiliated repeatedly by his peers. (I shouldn’t have to tell you where children’s cruelty originates.)  Perhaps because of his humble origins and traumatic childhood experiences, Biden has become an empathetic, compassionate leader.

Recently, Biden toured economically depressed areas in eastern Ohio, once the geographic center of the state’s mining and steel industries. He listened to residents talk about “job losses at factories … (and) stories of broken pension and health care promises, suicide, shattered families and itinerant job-seeking” (The Economist).

In response, Biden’s administration has embraced a “place-based” industrial policy, directing tens of billions of dollars to reinvigorate manufacturing in economically depressed regions. Thankfully, Congress has allocated $80 billion for these initiatives, including $10 billion for “tech hubs,” $ 9.6 billion for “regional innovation resource centers” and additional billions for “clean hydrogen hubs.”

Because of China’s pledge to take over Taiwan by 2027, investing in the computer-chip industry here at home is an unquestionable necessity.

What’s more important: divisive culture wars or a manufacturing renaissance in forgotten America?

Cray Little, Vero Beach

Here's game plan to help America handle future challenges

I recently read a column by Victor Davis Hanson that told of the political situation in Britain just prior to Adolf Hilter's invasion of Poland and the beginning of World War II. Hanson likened this bit of history to what we are experiencing in the United States today.

He related how Joe Biden has destroyed the southern border by green-lighting 7 million immigrants swarming into the country without any checks and balances, how China is spying on the United States and has never taken ownership of the COVID-19 gain-of-function virus.

He commented on how our military is thousands of recruits short and lacks needed munitions, our disastrous pullout of Afghanistan leaving vast troves of arms to be used against us. As well how the Pentagon's woke agenda destroys any thoughts of merit and advancement to our troops.

He also noted how our major cities have become unlivable due to triple-digit increases in violent crime, becoming mired in trash and homelessness.

Hanson suggests that we take the following steps, among others, to return our country to its once enviable stature:

• Balance the budget.

• Return to legal-only immigration.

• Restore a well-funded Pentagon.

• Enforce the rule of law.

• Produce more gas and oil.

• Reestablish civic education.

• Insist universities protect free speech and due process.

He continues: "... somewhere out there is an American who is infuriated over what is being done to America ... and if he/she stands up and calls out our bankrupt political class, the American people will follow ... "

It is time America.

Ray Mancari, Vero Beach

DeSantis a hypocrite? How else to explain his lack of compassion?

Gov. Ron DeSantis brought back water from the Sea of Galilee to baptize one of his children. So he believes in He who said: “Whatever you do for the least of My brethren, you do for Me”?

Thus, how can 140 disabled Florida children still be stuck in nursing homes, with 1,800 more at risk of being removed from their homes?

There's no money for them, but $108 million for some new law enforcement bureaucracy?

The federal government has offered Florida billions of dollars from the Affordable Care Act, which we all pay into. Florida Republicans have refused to use that money to help “the least of our brethren” for more than 10 years and insist the money wouldn’t help.

How do they know until they try “to join the human race” as John Lennon said. “Imagine.”

Helen Frigo, Jensen Beach

Believe in Constitution, First Amendment, not Brave Books, Moms for Liberty

I am proud to live in a country that allows networks like Fox News to exist, even though I despise every word that comes out of the mouths of most of their opinionators.

I am proud to live in a nation that allows "Brave Books" to exist, even though they accuse progressives of having an "agenda" to demoralize and confuse our children with the aim of making them hate their country. (See the group's website if you don't believe me.)

But what has aroused me enough to write this letter is the fact that you chose to publish a news story revealing the controversy between "Brave Books" and the American Library Association in Saturday's Press Journal, which doesn't get delivered to home subscribers.

That means only a small fraction of your readers are aware of the campaign by the "Brave Books" and "Moms for Liberty" people to deprive the shelves of our public libraries of the opportunity kids should still have if they want to read and learn about what we progressives think they should have the right to read and learn about. The only people with an "agenda" are the "Brave Books" and "Moms for Liberty" people.

I say this. "Ban hate, not books. Ban bigots, not books."

Bob Lipton, Vero Beach

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: See Trump papers; Biden jobs; DeSantis hypocrisy; Fitch debt | Letters