Donald Trump’s economy isn’t much to brag about: Readers sound off From Trump's economy, to childbirth death rates, to foreign aid to Venezuela, our readers sound off on the latest headlines.

USA TODAY

Letters to the editor:

President Donald Trump has widely and loudly boasted of an economic revival of epic and historic proportions. Make no mistake, the economy today is strong and growing, but it’s far from being historic. Let’s consider the facts. There are three key metrics that indicate the strength of the economy: gross domestic product, jobs and wages. In the second quarter of this year, the GDP grew 4.1 percent, but during President Barack Obama’s tenure it grew more than 4 percent on four separate quarters. In the first 18 months of Trump’s term, job growth averaged a healthy 193,000 per month, but during Obama’s last 18 months job growth equaled an even more robust 206,000.

Over the most recent 12 months of Trump’s presidency, average hourly wages grew 2.5 percent, but under Obama in his last year, hourly wages grew 2.9 percent.

No matter how you cut it, Trump’s economic performance, while laudable, is clearly far less than his hyperbolic rhetoric would have us believe.

Trump’s desperate to try to prevent a Democrat takeover of Congress in the November elections. He’s reaching for every point of distinction he can find. He will not find much to crow about.

Ken Derow; Swarthmore, Pa.

More: The 'Summer of Economic Illiteracy,' featuring Donald Trump and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez

Unemployment may be low, but so are salaries (compared with cost of living). An economy can’t just be enriching for a few. “Trickle-down opression” drives this economy — a modern enslavement of the people through sustained, stifling and suffocating debt. In America, the pervasive necessities of accumulating individual and household debt are our financial chains and shackles. The less fortunate are tethered for life to financial institutions. Surviving requires taking out loans at gouging interest rates and repaying over endless months for our home, vehicle, education and life’s essentials.

John O’Malley; Hoover, Ala.

Trump-voting farmers should be ashamed

Letter to the editor:

Some farmers voted for President Donald Trump. They were willing to vote for racism, sexism, vulgarity, trophy wives and serial cheating, war against the environment, war against public education, war against facts and truth, war against our allies and an embrace of dictators, and war against decency — because they thought it was in their economic interest to do so.

More: Donald Trump's $12 billion payoff to farmers is nothing but a stunt. Why isn't Congress doing anything?

Then Trump imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, as he said he would. And the trade war he started with China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union is now harming farmers, as every economist — except White House trade director Peter Navarro — said it would.

Now, all Americans must pay billions of dollars in subsidies to the farmers (some of whom caused this mess). The Trump-voting farmers should be ashamed of themselves. Get rid of the tariffs and and protect the environment.

Steven Ross; Kew Gardens, N.Y.

Mueller will find out if ‘collusion’ is a crime

Letter to the editor:

For President Donald Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to say that collusion is not a crime won’t stand in a court of law. Whether there was collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives will become clear as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation — and possibly Robert Manafort’s trial.

More: Donald Trump is scared of facts, news media: Talker

Nevertheless, I think that the 2016 presidential election result would not have been any different, even if the Russians hadn’t interfered. Hillary Clinton disregarded a large swath of Americans as “deplorables,” and the Democratic National Committee even engaged in dirty tricks and spread lies about Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Anh Le; San Francisco

As a nation, we need ‘Medicare for all’

Letter to the editor:

I stepped up to the man in blue and requested my prescribed antibiotic to snuff out an emerging toe infection. “How much?” I inquired. “$3.30,” the blue man responded. “Too much, can’t afford it,” I joked, drawing a pained look from the drug dispenser. “How much if I had no insurance, a hundred bucks?” I persisted, throwing out an absurdly high number. The annoyed employee looked at the paperwork and shot back, “$105.” Now I was no longer amused.

More: Single-payer health care would tank US economy

There is something very wrong when the richest country in the world charges a person of means $3.30, but slams a poor bloke of little or no means 32 times that for a vital medicine. That is why I work every day to elect people to office who support Medicare for all.

Walt Zlotow; Glen Ellyn, Ill.

Moms are dying. We need to act.

Letters to the editor:

We can no longer turn a blind eye to the disturbing trend of moms dying in childbirth or shortly after.

There is a dire need for hospitals to be resourced and empowered to do more to assist women during and after pregnancy. These deaths are preventable if more women — especially women of color — have access to the quality health care they need, and have a greater role and voice in their care.

The journey through the hospital system can be complicated, but our ultimate goal should be to improve the culture of patient safety. We need continued advocacy, awareness, funding and innovative practices that address the fundamental medical and social factors related to moms becoming seriously ill or dying. Uncovering these challenges will help identify the root causes and devise scalable solutions. But, more important, it will serve to magnify the voices of moms and women who are at the center of this crisis.

Stacey D. Stewart, president of March of Dimes; Washington, D.C.

More: High maternal death rate shames America among developed nations

One thing is clear from USA TODAY’s investigation “Deadly deliveries”: We need enforceable care protocols.

At nearly all hospitals, people with symptoms of a heart attack are given the same tests, treatments and care. It’s a process that works but one we aren’t using in maternal care. That’s why I introduced the MOMMA Act to establish and enforce national emergency obstetric protocols. The bill also addresses a challenge highlighted in the investigation: a lack of quality data. We still lack a clear picture of exactly what’s happening because there is no standardized data reporting form. Additionally, my bill would establish a national review committee, a proven strategy to curb the rising number of deaths, and would expand health coverage to the entire postpartum period. It also fosters culturally competent care to address the shocking fact that black mothers are more likely to die than white mothers. We’re waiting for a Republican co-sponsor to step up and help pass this commonsense and lifesaving legislation.

Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust; Washington, D.C.

Let’s do what we can for Venezuela

Letter to the editor:

With news that Venezuela’s inflation could reach 1 million percent and that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is planning on printing money to prevent this from occurring, it is important to remember the effects of extreme inflation. Eighty-two percent of Venezuelan households live in poverty, and the worsening economic conditions have caused widespread political protests across the country. Their health has also diminished, with the maternal mortality rate rising 65 percent from 2015 to 2016. The infant mortality rate rose 30 percent, and 76 percent more cases of malaria recorded. Many Venezuelans eat two or fewer meals a day, and protesting these conditions is often met with military force and incarceration.

Venezuelans, a majority of whom live in poverty, do not need more violence. Rather, it is imperative that the financial crisis is addressed and that humanitarian aid is provided.

Sara Olk; Brown Deer, Wis.

Keep coal, nuclear plants

Letter to the editor:

David Schlissel’s column, “Trump’s bogus national security case to save failing power plants will cost consumers,” is dangerously misleading. Coal-fired electricity generation is essential to ensure low-cost, reliable, resilient and secure electricity in America.

A study by the Energy Ventures Analysis finds that, in the case of just three coal-fired power plants, the premature retirement of these plants would cost electricity consumers 15 times more than continuing to operate them. Indeed, the retirement of these plants would increase costs to consumers in the Pennsylvania, Jersey, Maryland market by $2 billion per year, while, in comparison, continuing to operate these plants would cost much less, $130 million per year. Further, the cost to replace these plants with generation from natural gas would cost consumers $5.7 billion.

In addition, with these closings, the electric power grid will become more unreliable and insecure — as witnessed during the cold weather early this year. At that time, coal provided 57 percent of the power needed in a large area of the eastern U.S. compared with only 16 percent of power provided from natural gas. If it were not for the electricity generated by our nation’s coal-fired and nuclear power plants, we would have experienced massive brownouts and blackouts in this area.

The decommissioning of more coal-fired and nuclear plants will jeopardize the reliability, resiliency, and security of America's electric power grids even further and increase electricity costs for all consumers.

Robert E. Murray, chairman, president and CEO of Murray Energy Corporation; Clairsville, Ohio

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