And now for right statistics
The Cherokee Scout recently printed, under the Your Views section, a letter that was obviously full of statistical errors. The sad part is that the individual did not support their numbers with fact-based data.
In order to properly inform the reading public the below data comes from consumeraffairs.com/finance/us-debt-by-president.html.
The summary is:
Under President Joe Biden, his administration has added $6.17 trillion to the debt. That represents a 21.71% increase.
Under President Donald Trump, his administration added $8.18 trillion to the debt. That represented a 40.43% increase, but also included a 3.6 trillion COVID relief package. If COVID did not appear on the scene, the added debt would have been $4.58 trillion.
Under President Barack Obama, his administration added $8.43 trillion to the debt. That represented a 69.98% increase.
The loss of jobs was solely due to the COVID virus, where federal, state and local governments force businesses to close under the guise of “public good.” When COVID was reversed due to the Trump vaccine (part of the $3.6 trillion spent), Biden took credit for adding jobs back.
Get full information at factcheck.org/2024/02/bidens-job-growth-chart-ignores-impact-of-pandemic.
Inflation was 1.9% when Trump left office, and real wages pre-covid had climbed for everyone.
Inflation is, as of June 2024, 3.3%. But prices have skyrocketed for food, gas, insurance, mortgage rates, and more so there is even less cash in your wallet. See bls.gov/cpi.
Please write facts, not fiction.
Brendan Fogarty, Murphy
Living the U.S. dream
For more than 240 years, people have come from all nations to America to live their dream of being a citizen of a free country. Where one can work hard and make a good living at their trade and own a home, a car or two, and raise a family without any fear of being attacked by other nations that want to rule and reign over our beloved nation.
Sadly, our nation has been slowly invaded by the enemy, which is at our doorsteps and even working in high positions in our own government system. In many universities and local schools, God is no longer allowed to be a part of the equation, for the doors of injustice have chosen to serve Satan instead.
More demands are being put in place for “We the People” to align ourselves up to the agenda of a culture that doesn’t even allow God. To play second fiddle instead of being the lead Stradivari of all wisdom and knowledge that mankind needs to deal with situations that come our way.
Yes, living the dream is still a reality for many, but it is slowly creeping away as the enemy continues to bombard our society with wrong thinking and setting their standards over our nation, instead of turning away from evil and embracing the truth of God’s Word.
Don’t let Satan ride shotgun for you. All Satan can offer you is eternity in hell. Stand up in the name of Jesus Christ, and He will lead you to a place called dream heaven, full of eternal promises that are out of this world. Come join the angel band and rejoice in the goodness of God for eternity.
Frank Combs, Blairsville, Ga.
Robinson is not worthy of office
Do you really want this man to be the next governor of North Carolina? Take your head out of the sand. Times have changed; strictly voting your party won’t get it. It’s what’s best for the state.
Below is an excerpt from a Raleigh newspaper. Take it to heart.
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is second-in-command under Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and is vying for Cooper’s seat while touting former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, won the primary election with 66% of the vote to Dale Folwell’s 19.2% and Bill Graham’s 16%.
Robinson’s comments have sparked criticism among some organizations, including one of North Carolina’s largest newspapers, The News & Observer. The editorial board published an opinion piece condemning Robinson and urging Republicans to withdraw their support, while expressing support for attorney general Josh Stein.
The paper criticized Robinson for a recent run-in with the state’s Department of Health & Human Services regarding alleged disallowed expenses by Balanced Nutrition, a nonprofit previously run by Robinson’s wife, Yolanda Hill. Robinson also worked for the organization, as did his son and daughter, the paper reported.
Robinson’s campaign declined to comment.
The editorial went on to list other concerns its staff has with Robinson, such as he was “evicted for nonpayment of rent, declared bankruptcy three times and failed to file federal income taxes for the taxable years 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002.”
“Social conservatives swooned over Robinson because he is adamant about gun rights, opposed to abortion rights, critical of gay and transgender people, skeptical about the Civil Rights Movement and willing to say public school teachers are indoctrinating children with liberal ideology,” the editorial reads. “But soothing some people with what they want to hear shouldn’t be enough. Candidates should also be assessed based upon what they’ve done or haven’t done. Conservatives can no longer pretend that Robinson passes that latter test. He’s not deserving of office or of their vote.”
Marsha Barnes, Murphy
Good staff, bad prices
I wholeheartedly agree with Sam Jokich, staff correspondent with the Cherokee Scout, about the cheerful and efficient DMV staff at the Murphy branch of the Division of Motor Vehicles.
However, am I the only one who thinks the prices we pay to renew our automobile tags in Cherokee County are outrageous? I own a 2011 Honda CRV with 183,000 miles showing on the odometer. My tag renewal costs $86.09 this year. This car was purchased for $3,000 last year.
I got it at that price because rats had gotten into the engine wiring and was throwing several codes and barely running. I would rather pay the sales tax based on the purchase price of your vehicle instead of the 3 percent highway use tax, and then a personal property tax for the rest of your ownership of the car.
By the way, the DMV taxes me at a value on this $3,000 car at $7,340. My friend in Georgia pays $20 per year for tag renewal on his 2023 Toyota Rav 4 that is valued at $44,000. I believe Tennessee is about the same as Georgia with their tag renewal fees.
Don’t get me started about how useless the yearly automobile inspections are.
Well, I feel better now after getting this off my chest.
Don Harlan, Murphy