Aug. 7, 2025 Editor, The News-Gazette: Economists, especially Democrat ones, aren’t knowledgeable. For example, knowing that an economist feels, on the average, just fine, with their head in a furnace and their feet in a bucket of ice, leads me, an 80year old civil engineer who has been around, to try my hand at “tariffs.”
The American union worker brought the subject on all our heads with high salaries, fat benefit packages and early retirement with golden parachutes. The minimum wage is way out of proportion to the workers labor. So, no wonder businesses turn to foreign sources for cheaper supplies. But, this calls for them to turn a blind eye to said sources having child labor, no unions and more people to fill the fast food industry and other low paying jobs than America does not counting illegals Democrats badly want because they can pay them much less than the value of their labor.
So, what about this paper? In a prior column, Matt Paxton gave us a great rundown of what this paper covers in a year. I was quite amazed by the depth and complete coverage he gave. But, he forgot to mention that the tariffs would hurt the paper because they have been getting paper from cheap sources.
So, instead of fighting the tariffs, this paper needs to increase subscriptions. Our county is full of Democrats with money that can afford a subscription. So, Democrats, step up and help keep our only paper afloat. Otherwise, everyone may have to get news from fake sources or the Staunton News Leader. They don’t cover us, you say? Well, maybe a merger is a good way to go. Cover both counties. Reduce overhead expenses, etc. Hmmmm! BRAD PRICE Buena Vista --- Mr. Price noted that I did not mention tariffs in my column several weeks ago. The paper that The News-Gazette is printed on comes primarily from Canada. Newsprint, as that grade of paper is called, is covered by the USMCA trade agreement negotiated during the first Trump administration. USMCA-covered goods aren’t currently subject to the recent tariffs imposed on Canadian imports. Matt Paxton, publisher
