Dec 27, 2023 2 min read

Dave Ball’s recent review of the last three years is more of a partisan rant than a thoughtful retrospective.

It is notable for its omissions, inaccuracies and falsehoods. Ball totally fails to mention the continued level of strong job creation, record unemployment and wage growth. There is no mention of the stock market reaching all-time highs. He claims the nation’s energy position is deteriorating when, in fact, the United States is the world’s leading producer of oil and natural gas and production levels are at all-time highs. The number of jobs in green industries like wind and solar continue to grow as these technologies have become cheaper than electricity powered by fossil fuels.

Ball implies that the flood of fentanyl crossing our southern border is coming with immigrants fleeing violence and poverty. In fact, our customs officials have testified to Congress that most of the illegal drugs cross the border hidden in legal cargoes in trucks from Mexico.

Ball argues that the U.S. would be better off if there was no immigration, legal or otherwise. This premise ignores the fact that we are a nation of immigrants and that much, if not most, of the fresh produce we enjoy year-round is harvested by immigrants both legal and otherwise. Ball makes no mention of the growing on-shoring of jobs which has been stimulated by the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act.

I agree that the level of our national debt is a problem and unsustainable in the long run, but Ball fails to mention the nearly $8 trillion tax cut that primarily benefited billionaires that was passed during the last administration by the Republican-controlled Congress.

As the year winds down, I am very optimistic that despite some very serious challenges our economy and nation as a whole are on the right track.

William Shader

Venetia