Tony Smith
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
I graduated from high school in a "golden age" for us privileged white males. A white male with a high school degree could marry his sweetheart, take a job, finance a home, buy a car and boat and manage it all. The wife could work or not until that first child arrived. That's what a good economy looked like. It's what President Donald Trump falsely promises he will deliver.
It's amusing to hear Trump cultists defend his remarks that he has now produced the best economy ever. It's extremely laughable to use economist Arthur Laffer to support Trump. One of Missouri's resident billionaires, Rex Sinquefield, used Laffer to encourage Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to slash Kansas taxes. Slashing taxes to create an economic boom is something that Laffer has preached since the Reagan years. It has never worked. It's a zombie idea that keeps coming back.
The Kansas City Star reported last month that Sinquefield brought Laffer to meet with Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. Can we guess what was discussed? Does Sinquefield contributing $900,000 dollars to Parson's re-election committee have any bearing? You decide. Just remember that Republican politicians revolted against Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback after rural schools, hospitals and roads were decimated by tax cuts. An economic miracle became a nightmare.
Missouri has long-standing economic problems. Sinquefield's own think tank, The Show Me Institute, has produced a study which the Post Dispatch highlighted recently. It was titled "Missouri's 50-year economic slump shows no signs of ending." Standard GOP tax cuts are doing little to restore good jobs for Missourians. Rural areas lag the most.
Weaselly politicians like U.S. Rep. Blaine Leutkemeyer offered empty promises to "repeal and replace" Obamacare. Likewise, Trump and GOP elected politicians have no meaningful plan to produce better incomes for Missouri citizens. For example, if you thought you gained in 2018 with the Trump GOP tax bill, know that any benefits are being reduced and phased out just after the 2020 election.
The 1960s were great for us white guys. Trump and the GOP will not bring that back. In 2018 Missourians passed a bill to increase the minimum wage which has been decimated since the 1960s by inflation. The entire GOP resists that. I rest my case.