To the editor:

Happy New Year is on the lips of many people this time of year. We just completed two years that were anything but happy. Why should we expect a Happy Year for the first time since 2019? Sure we have many families that are outstanding and people very gifted who are succeeding in their careers.

But I can’t be very optimistic about 2022. The damage that was done last year alone will be hard to turn around. The pandemic that was supposed to be magically eliminated by our new old president is now setting records and he has clearly given up. He is now saying it all has to be handled by the states. That is an awesome statement after he wasted over a year of education for many students, killed thousands of privately owned businesses; saw a big increase in suicides and the loss of many jobs.

Our cities have been setting records in crime. Open looting is now common as is murder, car-jacking, etc. Some mayors and city councils conclude that police are too expensive. Some even think we should do away with police.

In the meantime, our borders are a sieve and the whole idea of legally becoming a US citizen is hardly even mentioned. Our president has opened up the borders setting records of illegal immigrants, including COVID infected, criminals, terrorists and many people who have no work skills. I presume Biden’s’ motivation is that they will eventually become Democrats.

Our national debt is now $29.5 trillion. We face deficits in the trillions now but that doesn’t faze Biden. He is pushing Build Back Better which will cost $1.75 trillion according to his arithmetic but that is only for the first year. The full cost is almost $5 trillion and he is saying it will pay for itself. Can anyone imagine government spending $5 trillion and making money?

The Afghan debacle has marked him as the weakest president in our history and our enemies are gearing up right now to take advantage of his weakness. There are some men pretty strong as they near 80 but Biden is not one of them. He gingerly walks to a podium today and stumbles over his words until his handlers tell him to stop. He isn’t very scary except to the citizens of the US.

But don’t stop there. Go for the big things. Change the constitution. Pack the court and pass an election law so that elections can be controlled from Washington D.C. He wants to eliminate voter ID, the biggest obstacle to voter fraud. There are numerous articles in the paper about dead Democrats voting. That opens up a tremendous opportunity for voter fraud and may very well be the reason Colorado has turned blue. No matter how often the main media says there is no voter fraud, we continue to read about dead Democrats voting and some Democratic districts having more votes than voters. Then we have the new voter harvesting by the Democrats. That is a dream for a party to help people make out their ballots.

He has by presidential decree changed the US from fuel efficient to fuel dependent again. Result? Fuel is up 50%. He is forcing us to drive electric cars. It will take thousands of charging stations before we can venture out beyond the few stations now available. It will be particularly interesting to see people waiting in line for a one hour charge, enough to go 200 miles.

Inflation is setting records, too. Even dollar stores have gone up $1.25. We have a double edged sword — much higher prices and a shortage of goods. So how can 2022 be better?

Happy New Year? Might be a tough one to have.

John Benedict

Cape Coral