Jan 13, 2018 4 min read

Editorial voices from newspapers across the United States:

The Telegraph,

Nashua, N.H.

Tax reform signed into law by President Donald Trump just before Christmas may be detrimental to many charitable organizations, some analysts insist. It should not make an iota of difference in how we Americans respond to need.

If you make contributions to recognized charities, you may be using them as a deduction to lessen your income tax bill. There had been some concern Congress would eliminate that deduction, which costs the Treasury an estimated $41.5 billion a year.

But the new law keeps the charitable giving deduction in place.

So what’s the problem? Some analysts worry that tax relief granted to most Americans may prompt some to forego charitable giving because, in essence, they don’t need the deduction to reduce their tax bills. For those using the new $24,000 standard deduction for married couples, there is no reason to resort to any itemized deductions.

Americans are better than that. We are confident the overwhelming majority of charitable giving is out of the goodness of donors’ hearts, not merely to save them money at tax time.

The Journal Times

of Racine (Wis.)

For Wisconsin, the new year brings hopes for strong, if not spectacular gains on the economy and jobs front. …

But Wisconsin, along with fellow Midwest states Michigan and Minnesota, also faces nagging worries over the lack of progress of renegotiations of the North American Free Trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico. After five sessions of talks last year, and no significant movement, the talks resume at the end of this month in Montreal.

For the Badger State, much is at stake. Almost half of Wisconsin’s exports go to Canada and Mexico, accounting for $9.6 billion in trade and supporting 249,000 jobs.

If NAFTA issues are not resolved and the U.S. decides to pull out of the trade pact – as President Trump has suggested on several occasions – Wisconsin’s agricultural exports would be sorely affected, particularly the dairy industry which could see a 45 percent tariff on cheese exports to its top market, Mexico.

Clearly the winds of isolationism are afoot, and that could hurt trade and in turn hurt whole industries and consumers as well.

That’s worrisome, as it should be – particularly for Wisconsin, which depends on exports for one of every five of its jobs.

Belleville (Ill.)

News-Democrat

A student in Georgia thought answering the Craigslist ad would get him a cheap iPhone 6 in 2015. Instead, it got him killed.

A “doctor” in Utah offered $200 for anatomy research subjects in his Craigslist ad. Two women answering the ad got raped.

An Alabama couple wanted to buy an SUV advertised for $8,000 below market on Craigslist. Instead they had their $22,000 in cash taken and were nearly killed.

The world is a dangerous place. When you mix cash, valuable merchandise and strangers with an anonymous system you can regularly see tragedy.

Craigslist is the common denominator in these crimes, but common sense can keep you safe.

Don’t invite strangers to your house. Meet buyers or sellers in a public place. Better yet, go to a police station or another police parking lot where they have lights and signs warning of video surveillance, specifically for Craigslist transactions. Take your cell phone. Tell a friend or family where you are going.

But most importantly, trust your instincts. If it doesn’t feel right, bail.

There’s no deal out there worth your life.