OPINION:
President Trump has put some good ideas into action, but his economic policy is a disaster that’s fraught with potential danger (“Trump hits back at Canada over electricity surcharge,” Web, March 11). His on-again-off-again tariffs on imports, trashing of federal departments and agencies, firing os federal employees and elimination of various federal programs are causing havoc in our economy. The uncertainty is promoting jitters among consumers and could provide a pullback in consumer spending and business and industry investment, which could lead to a recession. Consumer confidence plummeted last month, showing its largest monthly drop since August 2021.
Trump and Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn approach to removing federal workers not only affects the Washington area but states across the country, too. Only 400,000 out of 2.4 million federal workers live in the District, Virginia and Maryland. The other 2 million are spread across the nation, including California, Florida, Georgia, New York, Ohio and more. In New Hampshire there are about 8,000 federal workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard who are under threat of losing their jobs. The shipyard services our nuclear submarines, which help defend of our country.
It’s also worth noting that about 30% of federal workers are veterans, including many who are fellow U.S. Navy veterans.
Small, private-sector businesses across the country are being severely affected by cuts to federal programs and the termination of federal contracts. About 7.5 million small-company jobs are dependent on federal contracts. Eliminating these jobs could have a disastrous impact on our economy.
DONALD MOSKOWITZ
Londonderry, New Hampshire
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