A lot of inflation talk doesn’t add up

Can we have some common sense talk about inflation? The textbook cause of inflation is “too much money chasing too few goods.” We’ve had both. The supply chain squeeze due to COVID-19 resulted in too few goods. The money distributed to both businesses and individuals by both the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations, with congressional approval, produced too much money (“Economy, especially inflation, top concern for voters this election,” Oct. 17).

So, the result was inflation. But the money handed out probably prevented a recession, which would have inflicted more harm than inflation. Now, the level of inflation is back to normal. However, don’t expect prices to roll back to their 2019 levels. That doesn’t happen. And it would be a bad thing if it did — it would surely induce a recession. Think about it. If you knew prices were dropping, what would you do? Not spend. You’d wait until prices dropped lower, which would send the economy into a tailspin.

— Wes Michael, Towson

Marylanders now paying for Hogan’s toll giveaway

A recent article in The Baltimore Sun, “Baltimore-area leaders tell Wes Moore’s administration transit cuts are going too far” (Oct. 21), makes note that, among other funding options, an increase in tolls failed to pass the 2024 Maryland General Assembly session. Perhaps if former Gov. Larry Hogan, now a candidate for one of Maryland’s two U.S. Senate seats, had not rolled back highway, tunnel and bridge tolls in 2014, the state’s ability to fund transportation projects would be in a stronger position.

For about 10 years, crossing one of the two Chesapeake Bay bridges has cost drivers less than in 2013. Same with the Interstate County Connector and the the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway portion of Interstate 95. Have a Maryland E-ZPass? If you drive through the Fort McHenry Tunnel or the Harbor Tunnel for the past 10 years, you’ve been paying less than in 2013.

Thanks to Hogan, millions of drivers have paid less to use Maryland’s toll roads for 10 years. That adds up to hundreds of millions of dollars — money now sorely needed to keep Maryland’s transportation infrastructure up and running. And let us not forget the cost associated with replacing another toll facility, the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

This short-sighted, pay-later type of governance is just one of many reasons why Hogan does not deserve to represent Maryland in the Senate.

— John Hammond, Baltimore

Looking for ‘bad actors’ in political fundraising? Check out Elon Musk

Armstrong Williams alerts us that Texas is accusing “the largest small donor fundraising platform for Democrats, for allegedly enabling bad actors to interfere in American elections” (“Armstrong Williams: Texas alleges suspicious donations through ActBlue,” Oct. 23).

Meanwhile, the largest large donor fundraising platform, X owner Elon Musk, is being warned by the U.S. Department of Justice that his million-dollar scheme to buy votes may be illegal. Based on the facts, it may just be true (“Musk offers voters $1 million a day to sign PAC petition backing the Constitution. Is that legal?” Oct. 21).

— Eric Greene, Annapolis

Trump shamefully aligns himself with Hitler

Former President Donald Trump’s admiration for Adolf Hitler is reprehensible.

“I need the kind of generals that Hitler had,” Trump reportedly said in a private conversation in the White House, according to two people who heard him say this. Trump praised Hitler, saying the Nazi leader did “some good things,” according to General John Kelly, who was once Trump’s chief of staff (“Harris says Trump ‘is a fascist’ after his ex-chief of staff says he wanted generals like Hitler’s,” Oct. 24).

In addition, Trump quotes Hitler verbatim in his speeches. It is disgraceful that Trump aligns himself with Hitler. Six million Jewish people died in the Holocaust. The Nazi German regime systematically murdered Jewish people in gas chambers, mass shooting operations, and through deliberate privation, disease, and brutal treatment. Trump must be defeated in the Nov. 5 election.

— Mel Tansill, Catonsville

Has Trump read the Roe v. Wade decision?

Eric Greene’s letter to the editor questions whether former President Donald Trump has ever read the Bible (“Has Donald Trump ever read the Bible?” Oct. 17). One of Trump’s recent grifts is the sale of Bibles for $59.99. I agree with Mr. Greene that it is entirely unlikely that Trump has ever read or studied the Bible.

I also wonder if Trump, who notoriously eschews reading just about everything, has ever read the decision in Roe v. Wade, which he brags that he is responsible for having overturned. Does he even have an inkling of the holding of the case? His utterly incoherent and inconsistent ravings on the issue of abortion and anything abortion-adjacent firmly suggest that the answer must be “no.”

— Claire Hoffman, Lutherville