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‘Trickle down economics’ hasn’t worked. But boosting incomes of the poor could.

An economic boost

After decades of trying to prove that “trickle down economics” works, perhaps it’s time to try “trickle up economics.”

If poor and low-income people receive additional income, whether by raising the minimum wage, higher unemployment payments, or a straightforward check from the government, they aren’t likely to use it for a trip to Cancun or even an expensive new car.

The extra funds will churn throughout the economy, most likely the local economy. They can spend more at the local grocery, fill needed prescriptions, and perhaps even eat out occasionally.

Local business will have more income and perhaps hire back some workers they laid off during the pandemic. Landlords will do better when tenants can pay their rent.

I don’t understand how Republican leaders can constantly stand up against the poor with a straight face. We all do better when we all do better.

Susan Whitledge, Raleigh

A living wage

Those folks who are working for large companies at minimum wage often end up needing food stamps and Medicaid to survive, while the CEOs take home unfathomable millions. Joe Q. Taxpayer foots the bill and sometimes struggles to make ends meet.

So why not demand that such companies pay a living wage or be taxed at a substantially higher rate to reimburse Uncle Sam for supporting these workers?

Lisbeth Brittain Carter, Raleigh



NC teachers

I am a retired Wake County public school teacher writing in response to Jay Ambrose’s “Teachers unions are now actively hurting students.” (Feb. 20 Opinion)

Ambrose offers a standard anti-union conservative rant that’s validity hinges on one statement: “ ...virus risks are minimal for teachers.” That’s spoken by an authority able to sit alone at home writing editorials on his laptop rather than spending 8 hours a day in a crowded, likely poorly ventilated classroom.

Virus risks will be minimal for teachers when they have been vaccinated, the community testing positivity rate is consistently below 5%, and current CDC social distancing and other standards can be met — and not before, regardless of what Ambrose or our N.C. legislature may claim.

Ned Gardner, Apex

Apex police

One sentence jumped out when I read the article about racial bias in the Apex Police Department. (Feb. 26) The consultant’s report said: “The good news is that the Black and Hispanic populations are low among the citizenry.”

Good news? Really?

The good news would be if more Blacks and Hispanics felt welcome and lived there!

Lila Singer, Durham

Black lives

Two sentences in “20 acres of ‘sadness and hope’” (Feb. 28) really caught my eye and my imagination:

“The median Black family in the United States, with just over $3,500, owns 2% of the wealth of the nearly $147,000 the median white family owns, according to a 2019 report by the Institute for Policy Studies. And between 1983 and 2016, the median Black family saw their wealth drop by more than half after adjusting for inflation, compared to a 33% increase for the median white household.”

I had heard versions of this in the past, but it was the first I’d seen these statistics together.

Black Lives Matter in more ways than one. What do we owe to our brothers and sisters of color because of the impact of policy decisions over the last 40 years?

I wonder what has occurred since 2016. During the Trump administration, in particular, and over the past year due to the unequal impacts of coronavirus. Something to think about...

Michael Rakouskas, Raleigh

Trump idolatry

I want to thank sculptor Tommy Zegan for accurately putting in perspective, with his golden statue, the worship of Donald Trump. His followers are indeed idolaters exalting a pagan god.

I do not understand the slavish devotion to this immoral man. All he has brought this country is death, unemployment and civil unrest.

He and his cultist followers must be defeated by 2022. I pray his eventual arrest and conviction will put an end to this sorry chapter in U.S. history.

Rudolph Schmidt, Cary