We all have to sacrifice for the greater good
Flushing: In order to find fault in President Trump’s tariffs, the Democrats are crying that we won’t have fireworks for the Fourth of July. If you don’t understand the problems, you can’t justify the sacrifices.
If you think that everything was going just fine, then you can’t agree that we might have to do without fireworks this Fourth of July because of Trump’s tariffs. But if you understand that we are in the first stages of bankruptcy (borrowing money to pay the interest payments on our $36 trillion debt), then you should be glad to start sacrificing to save the nation. Trump (a businessman) is the first president to face financial reality, and he is trying to do things to minimize our debts.
Will tariffs save us? Will anything save us from a terrible economic future? Yes. If you understand the crisis that exists, you will start growing victory gardens right now, and you shouldn’t give a damn if some industries (like fireworks) will suffer. I lived through Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Great Depression and World War II, and our nation of strong people (known as the Greatest Generation) made many real sacrifices to survive the depression and win the war. And yes, we even did without fireworks.
Is it OK to send a soldier to die or get mutilated to save our country, but is it not OK to let an industry close to save our country? John Procida
Now we’ll know
Brooklyn: The number one issue responsible for Trump’s reelection was the public’s perception that the economy was terrible. The facts spoke otherwise, as the stock market was booming, economic growth was rising, unemployment was low, wages were moving up and even consumer prices were moving in the right direction. As I have heard so many times, the U.S. economy was the “envy of the world.” Yet, in many people’s minds there was the unalterable view that it was a bad economy, mainly based on the price of groceries. Now, with Trump’s draconian and shortsighted tariffs, we will experience what a bad economy really is. Trump proclaimed, “I am your retribution.” The American public will see what he has wrought as the stock market crashes and 401(k)s lose significant value. Irwin Cantos
You were warned
Scranton, Pa.: As ceasefire negotiations with Ukraine and Russia drag on like Trump’s attention span at the funeral of Pope Francis, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said Russian President Vladimir Putin is “playing America as a patsy”. Really, Sen. Einstein? Ya think so? If you had been paying attention before the 2024 presidential election, you would know that someone beat you to the punch with that observation when she said of Trump and Russia, “He’s getting played by these guys.” The speaker was Kamala Harris, but that’s OK, as you might have been too preoccupied with trying to save dogs and cats from being eaten in Springfield, Ohio, to heed her warning. Vin Morabito
Dressed to distress
Matawan, N.J.: Leave it to the biggest egotist in the world to disrespect the ceremony for the humane pope, who cared about the displaced and downtrodden people of the world, by ignoring the tradition of wearing black to a funeral and wearing a blue suit and tie. Did he wear that outfit because he wanted the attention on him lost by the death of a great pontiff who cared about the slaughter of innocent civilians in Ukraine by an invading Russian army? He’s done nothing to stop Russian aggression except “adding sanctions” against Putin instead of supplying Ukraine the means to defend itself. Robert Wyshynski
Damage control
Pearl River, N.Y.: To Voicer Lisa Meyer: Instead of blaming Trump administration initiatives with stopping the Green New Deal scam, if the states would put more effort into forest management, we would not have these massive fires. Stop overbuilding homes close to rivers, oceans and other waterfronts without proper construction and elevation. Plan for these floods and fires ahead of time. I don’t know much about tornadoes or what causes them to form, but I’m sure scientists do and can figure out how to handle and minimize damage. So much money has been wasted on these green scams, from putting solar panels in huge fields only to remove or neglect them a few years later to wind farms that don’t and never will produce enough energy to sustain or maintain the electric grid. Wind turbines freeze in cold weather and are destroying the ocean environment. Robert Brennan
Hat hysteria
Manhattan: I was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat when I stopped at a store where several Hispanic men were also wearing Chicago Bulls hats. I thought they were all fans, but no. One fellow told me it is a sign of respect for MS-13. This is what you do if you don’t want to get hassled when you live on their turf. A photo of the wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia shows him wearing a Bulls hat, the MS-13 symbol. Whether or not Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 member or has committed a crime needs to be determined in our courts first. And if he is guilty of anything, does he deserve a life sentence in a Salvadoran prison? Or perhaps he is only guilty of wearing a hat. Trump is still not judge, jury or God. Vincent Novak
Tyranny’s handmaids
East Meadow, L.I.: In his 2012 speech to the UN regarding the Arms Trade Treaty, Wayne LaPierre, National Rifle Association executive vice president and CEO, stated: “When you ignore the right of good people to own firearms to protect their freedom, you become the enablers of future tyrants whose regimes will destroy millions and millions of defenseless lives.” Then why is the NRA and its current President Bob Barr enabling tyranny by sitting by silently while Trump and his Heritage Foundation puppet masters impose it by replacing nonpartisan civil servants and civilian and military officers with Trump loyalists, dragging both citizens and noncitizens off the streets and sending them to prisons without due process, impounding expenditures of funds appropriated by Congress, directing retribution against opponents, erasing contributions of non-whites from official government history, and threatening to defund colleges, universities and public schools that won’t cave to his demands? Richard Skibins
Never better
Forest Hills: We’re told that our election choices will affect the number of people camped in, bedded down and sprawled out on the M and R trains at the 71st Ave. station every morning. Yeah, right. It’ll probably increase the number. Jonathan Kaufman
Friends in high places
Manhattan: In the midst of a housing crisis, the well-connected and celebrity-friendly supporters of the Elizabeth Street Garden have managed to prevent housing being built there for about 10 years (“Mastro’s Elizabeth St. Garden pause aligns with agenda of allies, celebs,” April 27). There are no “alternative sites” for housing within Little Italy, and the nearest site — about a mile away on Hudson St. — is already being developed for additional, not alternative, housing. Garden supporters ignore the playgrounds and community gardens already surrounding the area near Elizabeth St. as apparently not up to their standards. A recent report in The New York Times states that garden supporters have assets of $1.9 million. I wonder how many homeless shelters have a war chest that size or A-list celebrities and government officials helping them. Alec Pruchnicki
High tolerance
Woodside: Regarding complaints about loud helicopters, I have the No. 7 line outside my window and planes overhead on rainy days. I put the captions on my TV all the time. I don’t complain. New Yorkers are tough! So, whiners, put on your big boy pants and live with it. I see homeless people every day. Your problems are less than theirs. Richard Tobiassen
Mind the mound
Bronx: The Mets lost to the Washington Nationals on Sunday because they took out Mets pitcher Tylor Megill after he threw 132 pitches, but he was still doing good with a six-run lead. Pitch count is BS. The only ones who know if the pitcher should be taken out are the pitcher himself and the catcher. Note that years ago, a pitcher named Robin Roberts pitched two full nine-inning games in a row. That was baseball. Jimmy Durda
