To the editor:

An open letter to President Trump

Without a vibrant middle class this republic will not survive. Votes by people who feel they have a stake in America help keep social, political and economic influence peddlers in check. Without flourishing middle class stakeholders the tilt of the playing field will become too steep and politically impossible to sustain. For decades the middle class in America has been exported, and the consequences have been uplifting abroad but stark at home. Most service jobs do not support an American middle-class lifestyle. Relegating what used to be the middle class to lower wage jobs, tossing off such one-liners as “learn to code,” then gut punching them with the brunt of the COVID-19 lock downs invites social disaster and it’s coming like a fast freight.

This time put $20K cash in the pocket of every tax-paying American. It’s a start, and along with fairer trade agreements and regulatory relief will help tilt the balance more toward a rejuvenated and stabilizing middle class.

Hugh Myers

Cape Coral