This is in response to the letter from Douglas Born (Oct. 12).

I watch news talk shows all the time but never hear the real reason why the nation’s economy is performing so poorly. Mr. Born hit the nail on the head with what is wrong — NAFTA — and what it did to the manufacturing sector. And not just  in Maine, but all across the country.

The downturn in the economy is not a recession, as the politicians want people to believe. It has been a political disaster by both parties. Nobody gets a pass on this one.

As Born pointed out, the country’s manufacturing base has been destroyed. Some companies that had been in business for more than 150 years were unable to make adjustments to survive the changes that came, so they auctioned of their equipment and closed doors.

That is why a stimulus package won’t work — the money to stimulate hiring won’t stimulate anything because the manufacturing base is gone, thanks to our elected officials and unfair trade deals.

Those officials must wake up and admit to the mistakes of the past and stop the spending. The last stimulus money simply went to the countries that took away U.S. jobs.

Don’t do it again.

Gary Belanger, Buckfield