Letters to the Editor

Publisher Raymond M Eckenrode reckenrode@breezenewspapers com

Executive Editor Valarie Harring vharring@breezenewspapers com

Editor Paulette LeBlanc pleblanc@breezenewspapers com

Advertising Director Laurie Ragle lragle@ breezenewspapers com

Advertising Sales Charlene Russ cruss@breezenewspapers com

Design & Layout Chris Strine cstrine@breezenewspapers com

Debbie Carletti obits@breezenewspapers com

Under this administration, the Federal Reserve failed to recognize the severity of the problem for over a year when they finally admitted that once again, Biden was wrong when he said inflation was “transitory ”

The Fed was ignoring their own “dot plots” and erred on the side of the administration to the detriment of every U S resident that depends on “dollars” to pay their bills and buy necessities

Inflation is what caused a B-B-Q pork sandwich with a side of cole slaw to go from $7 to about $20 It was the silent earthquake that began as soon as this president came up with his “Build Back Better” $1 2 trillion spending plan that should have been named “Build Back Poorer” since the incredible inflation it created did exactly that

Finally, the Fed began to at least appear to tackle inflation and started raising rates, albeit at an anemic pace considering they started a year too late There has been little, if any, evidence of a reduction of inflation but the rate of inflation has begun to slow. That does not mean you are in better shape It means that you are in “less worse” shape than you would have been if they had done nothing to address it

Now we have the aftershocks and tremors following the inflation earthquake Few if any of us have reason to worry about Credit Suisse or Silicon Valley Bank in any direct context but, these names are causing a huge economic impact in the “back rooms” of the Fed and the entire U S banking system The Fed and California regulators were, once again, asleep at the wheel and that inability to do their jobs has caused the failure of SVB and several other regional banks in the last 30 days The regulations were in place They were not adhered to By the Fed or California regulators

Web Poll

Previous Web Poll Question: Should Daylight Savings Time be made permanent with no need to “Spring Forward”and “Fall Back?”

■ Yes 84%

■ No 14%

■ It doesn’t really matter to me 2%

Current Web Poll Question:

Should the benefit terms of Social Security be re-evaluated

■ Yes

■ Maybe, but not on retirees

■ No

■ The Feds should provide a private retirement option

Share your opinion at pineisland-eagle com

It's too early to say what the fallout will be both politically and economically from the bank failures but one thing should be abundantly clear Either no one is minding the people’s store or, whoever is in charge is a complete and utter failure.

Max Christian St James City

Oh, SNAP! Florida lets kids go hungr y

To the editor:

The Federal SNAP emergency food allotments ended in February for Florida Our state legislators could have accepted the ongoing Federal assistance for poor families t o r e c e i v e n u t r i t i o u s f o o d . I n s t e a d t h e R e p u b l i c a n - l e d l e g i s l a t o r s a n d G o v e r n o r decided to turn down the extra food assistance for Florida’s children

Giving poor children food would require Florida to receive, at no additional cost to Floridia taxpayers, ongoing aid from the federal government to supplement food for a starving child who is a citizen with two parents earning $2,495 or less In March those families will only get food aid if earning less than $1,920 a month in Florida You will recall the average rent in Fort Myers starts above $2,000 a month The legislature of the Republican Party while ostensively busy protecting zygotes chooses to turn down the help This punishment of the post-born children of Florida, apparently for no reason, describes the meanness of spirit of Florida’s GOP lawmakers

Food supplements, of course, also are a boost to farmers, and grocery stores, and e

, because the sales volume increases their b i a b i l i t y . C h i l d r e n d o b e t t e r i n school when fed, etc

Meanwhile last week, the Coalition of Immokalee (farm) Workers marched across the state to request fair food wage increases, and additional agreements of food sales corporations They ask is for a code of conduct to not traffic in human slavery, and address sexual assaults on the job Their petitions are not frivolous demands The CIW program also asks a penny per pound incentive to farmers for wage bonuses for workers Farm machinery and H visa “temporary” workers from Mexico compete with these working families for minimum wage jobs in the tomato fields Obviously this competition is used by the corporations for suppressing wages downward CIW has a website for more information

Ellen Starbird Cape Coral

DeSantis to Washington as Prez?

To the e di to r:

Y e a r s a g o , a c o l l e a g u e t o l d m e t h a t i n e v e r y n e g a t i v e s i t u a t i o n t h e r e w a s a p o s it i v e y o u j u s t h a d t o r e a l l y l o o k f o r i t W h a t i s t h e p o s i t i v e i f G o v R o n D e S a n t i s g o e s t o W a s h i n g t o n ? A n s w e r : H e w o n ’ t b e i n F l o r i d a a n y l o n g e r D av i d S taf f o rd Cape Co ral

Is America safe?

To the editor:

Is there anything that government does