The Jan. 12 article “How the pandemic ‘sugar high’ led to Maine’s budget crunch” has worldwide implications. During the 2020-2022 pandemic period, the USA put an unencumbered $6.7 trillion into the hands of individuals, corporations, businesses and government programs. No reciprocal taxes were collected. If you want to see prices skyrocket, this is the recipe.
The USA, the proprietor of “the dollar,” has been recklessly printing money for years. Last year we were $1.6 trillion short of balancing the federal budget, making us over $35 trillion in debt. The yearly interest payouts will soon be $1 trillion a year. That’s money that could be spent on needed programs, gone, collected from our taxes and paid to debt holders. And, pushing the cost of living higher again. A newborn tomorrow will be instantly over $101,000 in debt. Shame on our leaders.
“Sugar highs” are cheap to come by but have many unfavorable results.
Steve W. Musica Sr.
Harpswell
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Join the Conversation
We believe it’s important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It’s a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others. Read more...
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
For those stories that we do enable discussion, our system may hold up comments pending the approval of a moderator for several reasons, including possible violation of our guidelines. As the Maine Trust’s digital team reviews these comments, we ask for patience.
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday and limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is found on our FAQs.
You can modify your screen name here.
Show less
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your Press Herald account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.