To the Editor:

Three things immediately popped out after reading Mr Laczkoskie’s list of Trumps accomplishments (“Former Resident Offers Short List of Trump Accomplishments,” Letter Hive, April 19). The first was the fact that in 2019 the US produced more energy than we consumed for the first time. That was a result of the shale boom in 2005 which unleashed vast amounts of domestic oil and gas, and increases in those resources have risen steadily since then. The second is tariffs. The country that produces the goods, ie, China does not pay the tariffs. US importers pay the bill for tariffs on goods imported into the US, and then pass it on either completely or partially to the end consumer. BTW, over the first three years of Biden and Trump’s presidencies, both men authorized $57 billion in direct federal payments to farmers. Third, the tax cuts were definitely a Trump accomplishment, which helped increase the deficit by $8 trillion. Note that the cuts for the middle class are set to expire in 2025 while cuts for the rich and corporations will not.

I could go on, but the bottom line is some accomplishments can be attributed to Trump, some occurred despite Trump, and some would have happened regardless of who was President. My suggestion would be for informed voters to not just look at the facts as stated but do their own research and discover what drove the accomplishments. Not just Trump’s, but also Biden’s. When you are done, consider the positives and negatives of each and judge them against your own values. In the end, who you vote for says as much about you as it does the candidate.

Toni Cargill

Sandy Hook