To the editor: I disagree with Jonah Goldberg's claim that the American economy transcends presidents. What is missing from his analysis is that policies take years to take effect.
Clinton righted the economy and handed it over, prosperous, to George W. Bush, who left office with the economy in free fall. Obama came to the rescue and even invested in General Motors to save it. The Republicans of that time were not in favor of making investments or saving banks. Obama gave Trump a prosperous economy.
Trump then handed Biden an inflation-ready economy and policies. The most notable achievement of his first term was tax cuts for the wealthy. He talked about infrastructure investment and healthcare reform, but I guess he only had a “concept plan.”
Republican policies have led to greater income inequality, which is a major factor in why the middle class is suffering. The incoming administration is considering reducing protections from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. If that happens, it would likely create more inequality and pain for the middle class.
Wayne Morgan, Ventura
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To the editor: The incoming Trump administration's embrace of cryptocurrencies will certainly challenge Goldberg's idea that presidents don't have much of an effect on the economy. Memories of the 2007-2008 financial collapse come to mind, due in part to exotic investments.
Alan Coles, Long Beach
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To the editor: Donald Trump said in 2004 that the economy does better when Democrats are in charge.
In the “good old days” of our country, there were very rich and very poor, until Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president and created the middle class, which has been the backbone of our economy for decades. Since then, Republicans have been working hard to get us back to those “good old days” by giving the rich more tax breaks and raising taxes on the middle class with Trump's proposed tariffs.
Americans do not want to “go back to the future.”
Anastacio Vigil, Santa Monica
