Dear Editor:
Rep. Luetkemeyer's "year in review" (Dec. 30, 2017) is most notable for what he doesn't tell you. Let's review.
New president: lowest first-year approval rating of any president in a half-century, greatly diminished standing of U.S. among world leadership, campaign and administration officials indicted and/or under investigation for foreign sabotage of our elections, federal agencies decimated, professional law enforcement institutions denigrated, a health care industry in disarray, white supremacist and other hate groups emboldened, nuclear war threatened.
Supreme court: a sympathetic justice joining an already pro-corporate court that favors employers, corporations and special interests (including more dark money in politics) over-working Americans.
Congressional Review Act: persons diagnosed with severe mental illnesses are free to purchase guns; big oil no longer has to disclose payments to foreign governments; mining companies can more freely dump waste into public streams; federal contractors can avoid disclosing labor law violations; federal land use rules revert to outdated 34-year standard; guidelines for reporting educational success and equity in schools eliminated; companies no longer have to maintain public records of workplace injuries past six months; internet providers can collect and sell your online activity without your permission; states can restrict federal money for family planning services such as birth control, cancer screening and STD detection; state and local governments don't have to provide retirement plan options to employees, making them less self-reliant and more dependent on Social Security.
Tax reform: expanded the debt by $1.5 trillion to pay for temporary and modest tax breaks for the middle class, while 83 percent of those tax cuts flow to the wealthiest individuals, including Luetkemeyer, whose LLC and S-Corp. businesses will reap big windfalls from the lowering of taxes on pass-through income and whose family may now be able to avoid inheritance taxes. I, for one, and looking forward to a few "retirement parties" in 2018!