Re: 'Is America in her final days?' [Village News, Maynard letter, 3/3/22]

The brief answer to the subject letter’s rhetorical question is no. We’re recovering from a major pandemic, our government thwarted an attempted coup, we’re in the midst of a global economic inflation, and we’re feeling the increasing economic costs of climate change. But we have the resilience to survive and will once again thrive. But some things must change. First of all, nostalgia for the “good old days” is counter-productive: we need to concentrate on producing the future that is our birthright. Science and technology is “where it’s at.” And blue state California will lead the way.

I could provide a point by point deconstruction of the subject letter, but this quote from Shakespeare’s Macbeth summarizes it nicely: “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” The letter is consistent with the GOP strategy developed in the 1990’s. It consisted of a list of negative terms to be used not only against their opponent’s argument, but also his character, proposals, and party.” Search on “GOPAC Republican handout” for citation.

In 2010, with the Tea Party Congress, the GOP instituted the policy of taking no legislative action. Their only function was to say no to anything then President Obama proposed. Since that time, no Republican legislator has put forward any legislation that would benefit their claimed constituency of working class citizens.

In summary, the author did compile a substantial list of supposed Democratic failings, consistent with the most recent evolution of GOP rhetoric: fact-free allegations. For example, he charges that illegal immigrants are costing us billions through use of government subsidies like SNAP and EBT. False! By law, they are denied those benefits. And besides that: “Collectively, America's undocumented immigrants pay an estimated $11.64 billion in state and local taxes every year.” Search on “How Much Tax Do America's Undocumented Immigrants Actually Pay? [Infographic] Forbes” for citation.

Here are two examples of the difference between parties: As of March 7, 2022, blue state California has the 14th lowest per capita rate of Covid fatalities. By comparison, red states have fared worse, with red state Mississippi being the absolute worst, ranking 50th. Search on “U.S. COVID-19 death rate by state Statista” for citation. Former President Trump talked about an infrastructure program, which would have been great for his working class constituents, but it never happened. President Biden has delivered the goods, signed, sealed, and delivered in the first year of his presidency.

John H. Terrell