Letters to the Editor

Reader: It’s time to address inequalities in our nation

Sorry Gene, but Marxism is NOT the future of the Democrats nor is socialism the future of the Republican Party. The SNAP program does not have 35% abuse, fraud and waste as the Republican (patriots) suggest from your response to Mr. Weeks’ PVT letter. Democrats have just as many so-called patriots who also care about their fellow seniors, disabled, disadvantaged and homeless people, who are all served the most by the SNAP program.

I’m sure the present Republican administration has rooted out the less than 1% abuse, fraud and waste abusers with their start and stop to SNAP, the upcoming restrictions and changes to Medicaid, and the defunding of the Affordable Care Act recipients. While the uproar will continue until every American faces the reality that it’s more expensive to live in America now than it was 50 years ago, and we all elect those who will address the growing disparity of wealth issues. The inequality that faces our nation is a greater economic crisis than anything else. The gap between those making under $48,000 a year, which is a poverty line for many cities, and those making $1 million a year has grown exponentially in the past 50 years.

The trade deficit issues are just glaring. We are a consumer nation. We naturally import more than we export because we consume more than we manufacture. We do not have the manufacturing businesses in place because back in the late 80’s 90’s many businesses went overseas or down south to reduce labor costs. Labor costs are too high for many of the companies, which is why many companies set up businesses in China, Taiwan, India, Ireland, Mexico and South America. They are not coming back, no matter how many incentives.

Again, no one is dealing with disparity of wealth in our nation. There’s great talk around bringing back businesses, but so far, data mining, AI introduction and power usage are the greatest signs of business opportunities, which not only frustrates everyone having to shop online or in person, but will also likely raise our electrical costs because the grids can no longer sustain any of these new technologies. They are unsustainable.

The Democrats have endorsed Mamdani in New York and Kate Wilson in Seattle because they are the future. They understand the dynamics at play in our political and economic lives and want to do something more equitable – changes that benefit all Americans, not just a select few or “patriots” as their opponents like to stress. Reduce property taxes by instituting income taxes in wealthy states, for starters. Senior people become homeless when they cannot afford their property taxes.

It’s time to address the inequalities in our nation, not point fingers over who is patriot or not. We’re all Americans first and foremost.

Amy Wilde

Our country needs to focus on really serious matters

By now, most people have seen the political ad with six lawmakers encouraging “refusing unlawful orders”. The six never specified any examples of what they deemed “unlawful orders”, but cleverly insinuated, nearly all orders directed by this president.

Now I don’t agree with the president’s insinuation that this may be treasonous, but it certainly is extremely close to sedition. One of the lawmakers was an employee of the CIA, which may or may not be one of the ad architects but certainly understands that the CIA (along with most other world clandestine agencies) uses this kind of propaganda to disrupt and change government leadership.

I would think the U.S. military still informs its members about “unlawful orders” (with specific examples) as well as exceptions to the “chain of command”, which is vital to any military unit, knowing good leadership considers relevant input to serious issues.

As a country, we need to look at real matters, like Chris Rufo’s uncovering of factual fraud being committed by many prominent politicians and people who send U.S. taxpayer money to Somalia, the second-most corrupt country in the world, that amounts to more than their annual GDP and is the major funder of Al Shebab.

David Jaronik