Letters to the Editor

United States is both a democracy and a republic

I beg to differ with Ms. Delamare: our county IS a democracy! The United States is BOTH a democracy and a republic. You can say we are a republic, and you can say we are a democracy – both are correct. As a democracy we elect our government officials, and we vote on issues – that’s democracy. Perhaps you just do not like anything resembling “democrat” but prefer it if it sounds more “republican.” So, please do not lecture me on which one we are when you clearly stated, “The U.S. is not a democracy.” Totally wrong, again.

If you had further read my letter, you would have seen where I explained more about democratic socialism than you claimed I said. You seem to have overlooked me saying that “Democratic socialists also believe in a strong democracy and are against authoritarian government systems…” and “Democratic socialists do not want to create an all-powerful government bureaucracy. But we do not want big corporate bureaucracies to control our society either.” Does that help you understand the differences from socialism? Probably not since you insist on omitting or twisting my words – a typical tactic of Trumpers who continue to believe the Big Lie.

Good for you that you get Social Security and Medicare because it is a “distribution” of the money you’ve paid into them. But that’s only part of the story and it is inaccurate. Your contributions to SS while you worked are NOT set aside just for you. That money is put into a big pot for many to draw from regardless of how much they put into the pot. Once your SS payments equal what you put in, your SS does not stop. In fact, The Urban Institute, a non-partisan research institute, and AARP both state that we get more back from Social Security than we paid in (unless we die early into your retirement). SS is NOT a distribution of YOUR payments into SS that is just for you. OMG I cannot believe I am having to point this out. I thought everyone knew this. Did you even know that at a certain income level in a year, SS stops being taken from peoples’ paycheck for the rest of that year? And those are the richer people out there, yet they will get to draw from SS for their entire life after 62/65. Please read up on how Social Security works as your explanation it completely wrong. This is a typical example of not doing the simple research and thus to avoid the truth.

You made a very, biased statement when you say the poor do not pay taxes. If they have a job, they pay taxes. And just because they have a job, they are not taken out of the “poor” category. Many poor people work but do not make a living wage. In fact, illegal immigrants pay taxes too. Research backed by the nonpartisan congressional Budget Office indicates that between 50% and 75% of unauthorized immigrants pay federal, state, and local taxes. Illegal immigrants are estimated to pay about $7 billion per year into SS yet most are never able to collect SS payments. You could not be more uneducated to not know how SS works or the role of the poor and immigrants in funding our government. So, now I have answered your question on why the poor can benefit from tax cuts.

I am glad you were able to help out your sons – although it was the government who helped when they issued you a Covid check and the ones your sons also got. Government handouts is what they got and one that you clearly did not need – but you took it anyhow, didn’t you? Do not tell me or others that democratic socialism is not is helping people in this country. And, by the way, my daughter donated her check to a charity to help the less fortunate in this country - she didn’t need it either.

“Hard-headed conservatives” do NOT believe in “helping other who are hungry, unwell or otherwise in need.” If they did then why would the Republican Party, in 2017 (as one of many examples), submit a budget which included these cuts:

■ $2 trillion from Medicaid

■ $887 billion from discretionary funding, putting a broad array of programs serving low-income populations such as housing assistance, WIC, job training, and others at risk of deep funding cuts.

■ $185 billion from federal college aid for low-income students

■ $157 billion from the SNAP (food stamps) program

■ $0.6 trillion from other programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, child nutrition, Supplemental Security Income for the aged and disabled, Unemployment Insurance, refundable tax credits for low-income workers, and child care.

You have no clue what you are talking about and how to characterize the Republican party. There are more examples of cuts in programs for the poor, programs for veterans and other needy people but they would take several issues of the PVTs to list them. Your, and many other Republicans’ ignorance of reality and the belief in the spoon-fed rhetoric of Faux news is destroying the values not only of this county but of the Republican Party. A party imploding before our eyes. To that I say “hurrah” as this party is not the Republican party you grew up with. It is the party of Trump: a scam artist, conman, liar, cheater, and quite frankly, a totally uneducated man – just like his followers. I will rejoice in the day he is hauled off to prison. And I will rejoice of the return of the GOP as it was.

I am tired of trying to get the truth out to people who could not care less about the truth and only want to hear what works for them (via Trump and Faux). And, yes, Biden won fair and square. If you do not believe that then you do not believe in our Constitution and our democratic country - you believe in and have been brainwashed by the Cult of Trump.

CJ Stevens