In his State of the Union address, President Trump proclaimed “The state of our union is stronger than ever before.” I respectfully disagree.
Our country is more divided than at any time since the Vietnam War, in part due to Trump’s racist and derogatory rhetoric. The president repeated bragged about how well the economy is doing, but the foundations of the economy are in poor shape and getting worse. The wealth gap continues to widen, with ever more of the wealth generated by our economy going to the few at the top. The wealthy are doing very well, while many in the middle class struggle and the homelessness crisis grows. In addition, the federal budget deficit will reach $1 trillion this year, and is projected to keep growing. This massive government spending helps the economy in the short run, but is creating a huge national debt that will burden our children and grandchildren for years to come. The Trump tax cuts are making both the wealth gap and national debt worse.
In addition to an economy that can’t continue on its current path, we have the climate change crisis. Virtually every country on earth except ours is working to reduce carbon emissions. Trump and many Republicans refuse to admit it is a problem, even though almost all environmental scientists agree climate change is a real threat to our planet and our way of life.
So between the divided populace, debt-based economy and climate change, our country is headed for some very hard times. The actions of President Trump are just making our future more bleak. We cannot afford four more years of his short-sided leadership.
Eric Selby
Lake Stevens
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