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Letters to the editor

My eyes have been opened

Kimball Shinkoskey Woods Cross I have finally learned who runs America. I must admit I have been deaf, dumb and blind for a long time. I thought I had arrived at a state of enlightenment when I learned there was another class of people besides the white suburban middle class I grew up in. I learned in college and graduate school and as a young working man that there was a distinct class of poverty-stricken people of color living in the big cities. That was quite a revelation to me. I never imagined, and it took me still many more decades to learn, that there has long been a third ...

Why tariffs?

Paul Washington Salona Tariffs are essentially a national sales tax on goods imported from other places. Traditionally, they are used to try to keep people and companies from buying some specific set of imported goods in order to boost domestic production of those goods by making the imported products more expensive than their domestic competitors. This is what the Trump administration is claiming as its justification for the introduction of the current tariffs, with increased American manufacturing being the stated goal. If the tariffs were only on manufactured goods, then there ...

Trump and the dollar

Sam Stea Cogan Station Trump keeps talking about the dollar as if its value is absolute, like chips in a poker game. What he doesn’t realize is that by alienating allies, propping up dictators, creating trade barriers, in short undermining US credibility at home and abroad, he has, by himself, become the single greatest threat to the dollar’s standing as the world’s reserve currency. If the dollar loses this status, let me put it to you this way. Regarding inflation, we ain’t seen nothing yet.

Who elected Elon Musk?

Harry Gural Lewisburg In the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump received 77 million votes. Kamala Harris got 75 million votes. Elon Musk wasn’t even on the ballot. Musk hasn’t been nominated for a cabinet position, but he holds court in the Oval Office while cabinet members sit in meek silence. He hasn’t run for the House or Senate, yet he is more powerful than every member of Congress combined. He’s not the VP, but he’s sidelined JD Vance to become Trump’s #2. Unelected Musk wields sweeping power, firing tens of thousands of government workers, often ...

Is DOGE the way to cut spending?

George Polycranos Port Matilda Most Americans would agree that cutting wasteful government spending is a good thing. The U.S. needs to get its $36 trillion deficit under control and would definitely benefit from simplifying many government processes. But are the culprits really climate and cancer research, veterans’ services, national parks and financial oversight? Even foreign assistance, which accounts for less than one percent of the federal budget, more than pays for itself by promoting international stability, preventing pandemics and strengthening national security. ...

Restore the USDA programs that directly benefit members of our community

Vera-Marie Shaw Mill Hall Recently (03/31/25) The Express printed a story about federal programs that impact local farmers and the Central PA Food Bank. According to the report, the USDA has terminated two programs that could have significant impact on members in our local community. These are the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreements Program (LFPA) which is a partnership between local farmers and food banks to provide fresh, nutritious food to local people who are food insecure, and The Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS) which provides money ...