April 9, 2025 Editor, The News-Gazette: It has gotten hard to be a U.S. citizen, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or do not align with any party at all.
In response to the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, federal policymakers enacted relief bills in 2020-21 that allowed the economy to steadily grow. Now, Americans face the possibility of another recession due to tariffs that will increase taxes on imports, thus lowering businesses’ profits and raising prices on consumer goods. Prices are already high. It will be hard for most of us, who are not in the top 1% of wealthy Americans, to cope with them rising even higher.
It has also been painful, as Americans, to watch over 250,000 fellow Americans lose their jobs in the first three months of 2025 as DOGE lacerated 27 federal agencies. Planned job cuts increased 60% in March, the highest level since May 2020 (when the economy was devastated by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic). “Planned job cuts” is a euphemism for increased unemployment.
The Department of Veterans Affairs, alone, plans to cut over 80,000 workers. Not only will this affect the benefits veterans receive, but one-fourth of the VA’s employees are veterans. This contrasts with the PACT act of 2022, which increased veterans’ benefits and services and was passed in both the House and the Senate by strong, bipartisan votes. Whatever their political leanings, I have never met anyone who didn’t feel that veterans deserve all the benefits and services they can get.
Yes, it has gotten hard for all of us. Instead of partisan finger pointing, can we not find some middle ground and support each other in these stressful times? J. SMYTH Lexington
