Dear Editor,

I’m just a dumb old boy from Indiana that thinks there is no real need to fly our economy into a cliff. I have no problem with properly applied tariffs; however, what we are now seeing is guaranteed to backfire. I seriously doubt that many major corporations will suddenly build new factories and hire workers at big wages. The end result is going to be a huge loss of wealth in this country, major inflation and a self-inflicted recession. Time for the president to withdraw all tariffs and appoint a few smart guys like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Tim Cook and others (no politicians) to develop a fair, effective tariff strategy rather than seeing how quickly we can ruin the world economy. You can’t correct years of dumb moves in one fell swoop; we should have done a better job of controlling trade relationships back in Henry Ford’s day.

While I am on the box, I agree that our government needs to become efficient and shed a ton of workforce. I don’t think a guy with a fat billfold and a chainsaw should suddenly cut off food for starving kids in Africa or mass fire entire sections of our government without full knowledge of their function. Personally, I am willing to pay a few bucks to see the control tower is properly staffed. Undoubtedly, since I am not a multibillionaire or even a billionaire, I feel the more you have the more tax you should pay. And when you have the ability to create more wealth than you can possibly spend, use your ability and extra cash to help the world a little.

I hereby yield my soap box.

Phil Smith