Trump's tariffs harming poor Americans most
Let's be clear about President "Empty Shirt" Trump's tariff war with China. First, it is important to understand "tariffs" is just another code word for import taxes. These import taxes are not paid by China but are paid into Trump's U.S. Treasury by those American individuals and companies who import Chinese goods.
Next, understand that most of America's big-box stores, like Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Kohl's purchase huge amounts of Chinese goods totaling in many billions of dollars each year.
Why do they do this? The goods manufactured in China are the least expensive items, of acceptable quality, for them to stock and offer at a price low enough and keep their customer base returning to their stores again and again.
Who is their customer base? The typical customer base for these "competitive priced" items is our country's lower middle-income and lower-income workers who struggle every day to keep their families clothed, fed and housed. These companies that have to pay this Trump tariff-import tax have little option but to pass this added cost partially or totally on to these customer groups.
As a result the least able of us in the United States has been saddled with what can only be titled a "Trumpian Poor Tax" created by our president.
Shame on you, Mr. President. You have created an unfair tax burden for many people, many of them your own supporters in the so-called Rust Belt. In addition, you have claimed that your action is in the interest of the country. But it is really all in aide of you creating another meaningless "Trump Dog & Pony Show" dedicated to your personal greater glory.
One hopes that in the future everyone including Trump's supporters will remember this "Trump Poor Tax" levied on their pocketbooks, and their lives, especially when they enter the voting booth in the next presidential election and send this "president" back to his golf course empire.
Tom Clark
Fayetteville
Some reasons Fayetteville needs a few candidates
If you want lower taxes, more transparent government, protection of our established neighborhoods and parks, affordable housing for our emergency responders as well as our middle- and lower-income citizens, and students from less affluent Arkansas communities, then it's time to consider serving on the Fayetteville City Council. You can also serve by following issues in your area of expertise.
My background is in waste reduction and recycling. Having run a successful small-town recycling program, I know Fayetteville could collect far more recycling and be better stewards of our environment and taxpayer dollars. I was mortified at the amount of money paid to consultants for the "single-stream pilot," which took place in the ward of an alderman campaigning for re-election. You'd be wise to make note in which wards "pilot projects" occur from now until November 2020.
While it's advantageous having the under-60-year-olds donate their unique talents and knowledge to City Council, it's also challenging for those working full-time jobs to read and absorb 300 to 500 pages every week. Many aldermen are stretched to simply attend meetings. They often rely on staff recommendations without thoroughly understanding the issues on which they vote. To better balance our council, we need more aldermen with time to study issues deeply, and aldermen who have long-term experience in specific areas.
I'd like to see candidates whose concerns include passing a whistleblower law that protects city staff who feel their only recourse is to go outside the chain of command to alert the public about internal problems. In recycling we need a transparency law. If Fayetteville had had one, we would not have wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on the single-stream issue. Where else are hundreds of thousands of dollars being wasted?
Louise G. Mann
Fayetteville
Commentary on 08/17/2019