To the editor,

Prices are going down today - for the second year in a row the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner is down. American Farm Bureau says the price fell 5% this year - turkey down 6%; gas down 25 cents per gallon since last year – for nearly 30 states, below $3 a gallon.

A recent Yahoo News/YouGov Poll with 1,600 adults shows fewer than half (48%) of Republicans now say the economy is getting worse. But immediately before the Nov. 5 election, nearly three-quarters (74%) said the economy was going downhill.

That’s a fast 26-point shift.

Why?

Lies. Some people use lies when they are losing politically, then drop them when they are winning. This destroys democracy.

Many people have not yet learned to spot and reject intentional political lies, or to push back against disinformation with accurate evidence - and refuse to be manipulated.

Trump did not get 50% of the vote.

He barely won - smaller than 1.5%.

About 30% of Americans who were eligible to vote in 2024 supported him.

He got 4 million votes fewer than President Biden got in 2020.

He does not have a “mandate” to do whatever he wants.

He is aging, declining, and incompetent.

His terrible Project 2025 plan disgusts the majority of Americans, who want democracy not dictatorship. That’s why he denied Project 2025 - another lie.

Trump is appointing millionaires and billionaires - doing his same old bad stuff that hurts working families. Trillion dollar tax giveaway for billionaires. Attacking things regular people count on: strong public schools, affordable

housing, health care (including Medicare and Medicaid), child care, food security, and Social Security that seniors count on.

Millionaires, billionaires, and corporations don’t care about working families.

We all need to loudly reject the lies and disinformation - and push for things working families count on.

Jo Haberman

Maiden Rock