Judging Results, Not Rhetoric
By Lonnie Crockett - 13 September 2026
James O'Brien's letter ("Rekindling the American Dream for All of Us") divides the country into villainous "Uber-Rich" and helpless "Ordinary Americans," then asks readers to vote based on that story. Parties should be judged by outcomes for working families, not by which one tells the better morality tale.
Start with border security, which hits ordinary Americans hardest through wage pressure, housing costs, and strained schools and hospitals. In fiscal 2025, Border Patrol recorded roughly 237,500 crossings — the lowest since 1970 and about 89% below the 2.2 million recorded in fiscal 2022. That is not a talking point; it is the difference between chaos and control.
On jobs, Mr. O'Brien's 716,000 figure is accurate but incomplete. The private sector — the part of the economy that actually employs "ordinary Americans" — added 902,000 jobs, while the federal payroll shrank by 324,000 as Washington was trimmed. Unemployment remains near historic lows at 4.2%, and the S&P 500 has notched 27 record highs this year, growing the 401(k)s and pensions ordinary families depend on, not just billionaires' portfolios.
On taxes, the letter has it backward. Had the 2025 tax law not passed, roughly 62% of filers — squarely "ordinary Americans" — would have faced a tax increase, with the top rate alone rising from 37% to 39.6%. Instead, the law locked in lower rates across every bracket and preserved the larger standard deduction. Yes, the same bill tightened Medicaid and SNAP eligibility, mainly through work requirements, and SNAP rolls have fallen by 5.8 million since January 2025. In a labor market this strong, moving people from public assistance into paychecks is a feature, not a scandal.
On Iran, no one should pretend the current conflict is cost-free; wars never are. But the 2015 nuclear deal Mr. O'Brien praises only delayed Iran's path to a bomb behind sunset clauses Tehran was already violating. Confronting that threat directly, instead of paying Tehran to wait a few years, is the harder and more honest choice — and a real nuclear-armed Iran would cost "ordinary Americans" far more than this conflict has.
As for "voter suppression" and a "putsch," those are inflammatory labels, not evidence. Elections in 2026 will proceed as they always have, and voters — not letter writers — will decide who governs.
None of this means the economy is pain-free; nothing repairs a decade of federal overspending overnight. But "rekindling the American Dream" requires more than recycled slogans about billionaires. It requires an honest look at record-low border crossings, a resilient job market, tax relief that reached the middle class, and a foreign policy willing to confront threats instead of managing them. On that record, I'll take results over rhetoric.
Sincerely,
Lonnie Crockett, Ph.D.,
Huntsville
By Lonnie Crockett - 13 September 2026
James O'Brien's letter ("Rekindling the American Dream for All of Us") divides the country into villainous "Uber-Rich" and helpless "Ordinary Americans," then asks readers to vote based on that story. Parties should be judged by outcomes for working families, not by which one tells the better morality tale.
Start with border security, which hits ordinary Americans hardest through wage pressure, housing costs, and strained schools and hospitals. In fiscal 2025, Border Patrol recorded roughly 237,500 crossings — the lowest since 1970 and about 89% below the 2.2 million recorded in fiscal 2022. That is not a talking point; it is the difference between chaos and control.
On jobs, Mr. O'Brien's 716,000 figure is accurate but incomplete. The private sector — the part of the economy that actually employs "ordinary Americans" — added 902,000 jobs, while the federal payroll shrank by 324,000 as Washington was trimmed. Unemployment remains near historic lows at 4.2%, and the S&P 500 has notched 27 record highs this year, growing the 401(k)s and pensions ordinary families depend on, not just billionaires' portfolios.
On taxes, the letter has it backward. Had the 2025 tax law not passed, roughly 62% of filers — squarely "ordinary Americans" — would have faced a tax increase, with the top rate alone rising from 37% to 39.6%. Instead, the law locked in lower rates across every bracket and preserved the larger standard deduction. Yes, the same bill tightened Medicaid and SNAP eligibility, mainly through work requirements, and SNAP rolls have fallen by 5.8 million since January 2025. In a labor market this strong, moving people from public assistance into paychecks is a feature, not a scandal.
On Iran, no one should pretend the current conflict is cost-free; wars never are. But the 2015 nuclear deal Mr. O'Brien praises only delayed Iran's path to a bomb behind sunset clauses Tehran was already violating. Confronting that threat directly, instead of paying Tehran to wait a few years, is the harder and more honest choice — and a real nuclear-armed Iran would cost "ordinary Americans" far more than this conflict has.
As for "voter suppression" and a "putsch," those are inflammatory labels, not evidence. Elections in 2026 will proceed as they always have, and voters — not letter writers — will decide who governs.
None of this means the economy is pain-free; nothing repairs a decade of federal overspending overnight. But "rekindling the American Dream" requires more than recycled slogans about billionaires. It requires an honest look at record-low border crossings, a resilient job market, tax relief that reached the middle class, and a foreign policy willing to confront threats instead of managing them. On that record, I'll take results over rhetoric.
Sincerely,
Lonnie Crockett, Ph.D.,
Huntsville