OPINION:
Because of four years of runaway inflation that ravaged people’s spending power, the primary theme of the New York City mayoral and New Jersey gubernatorial races is “affordability.” Which candidate will lower constituents’ cost of living?
If affordability is, indeed, the winning issue of the regional elections of 2025, every candidate who believes in it — including socialist Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani — should publicly support and rally around President Trump’s initiative to have the Federal Reserve slash interest rates by an unprecedented 3 percentage points.
This “cost of money” fix would, according to my calculations, save the average American family more than $1,500 per month. Imagine having a monthly expense budget of a mortgage and car payment(s) of $5,000, and then having it cut to $3,500 simply because of lower interest rates. That’s real savings that would make a dramatic impact on middle-class families. If advertised properly, it could cause a stampede to the ballot box.
Nothing else comes close to making life more affordable, and unlike stimulus checks or tariff dividends, it wouldn’t cost the U.S. Treasury a dime.
I challenge Mr. Mamdani and every other mayoral and gubernatorial candidate in the country to get on board with Mr. Trump’s initiative. The Democratic Party, allegedly the party of the working man, hasn’t even gotten out of bed on this cost-free initiative, leaving the fight to the president, who has a plateful of massive issues to handle.
Is it too much to ask that they put partisanship aside for once for the greater good of helping the American people?
LUANA DUNN
Glen Burnie, Maryland
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