Hitler, Trump? Food for thought
I was a child during the second world war, and I have some very vivid memories of that time. I remember a picture that was in the newspaper back in those days. It was a picture of Adolf Hitler giving one of his infamous speeches.
The picture showed a multitude of people standing and listening to the speech. There was a wall surrounding the gathering, and on top of the wall one could see armed storm troopers and tanks in the background. According to the caption, Hitler’s statement was: “I can speak freely without fear of retribution.” Trump used the same words at the prayer breakfast to justify eliminating the Johnson Amendment. My, how interesting when it appears that he has surrounded himself with fascists and bigots as his top advisers. One only has to look at Mr. Bannon’s past and several others of his advisers. Food for thought.
Rob Robkin
Ooltewah
Ron Hart wrong; Obama saved us
Ron Hart couldn’t be more wrong (Feb. 3). Under Obama, the unemployment rate fell at one point to 4.6 percent, which is considered near full employment. The vast majority of foreclosed loans were taken out between 2004 and 2008 and were associated with Lehman Bros. and AIG, both outside of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) control and years after the Community Reinvestment Act had lost any effectiveness. Obama kept interest rates low so the housing market could cover.
Not all presidents had employment growth after a recession nor the employment growth Obama has had. Republican Herbert Hoover did nothing during the Great Depression and lost 40 percent of America’s GDP, deepening the depression. We haven’t had a recession in eight years, not the cyclical five. Bush’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq added $5.3 trillion to the national debt – no fault to Obama.
Southern states haven’t recovered as fast from the recession because Republicans refused stimulus money, then blamed people for taking it.
David Bean
Chatsworth, Ga