To the Editor:
Denial takes a lot of energy. I hope you feel better soon.
Pat Collins,
Fillmore, Ca
***
To the Editor:
It seems my last LTTE didn’t address a question that I didn’t feel was worth my time to even consider an accurate question. Since the comment in question stated the Anti-Weaponization Fund was a “slush fund” (tag the TDS wording to it). Yet, completely ignore who actually did the weaponization. Gee, just ignore that little fact. Democrats moan about the fund but completely fail to mention their side DID THE WEAPONIZING!!! The faux outrage after years spent demanding the DOJ target people and industries they politically disagreed with. Government abuse was rampant. It was hardly a “slush fund” but actually an attempt to redress real wrongs. Citizens punished by lawfare that is now being exposed. Is that a satisfactory response Pat?
What I responded to was a direct quote and gave you facts. Yes, actual facts. Your rebuttal “.... institutional failure is not an argument against public investment” is lacking the reality of where we are and how we got here. Some facts, in 2012 Gov. Brown (Moonbeam) dismantled over 400 Redevelopment Agencies that were bringing in ‘$5.6 billion each year to address urban decay, stimulate growth, deferred maintenance of public buildings like fire stations, police, libraries, parks, historical and eliminate blight through rehabilitating affordable housing. The program required 20% be reinvested into the fund from the capture of an increased tax base. Today what has replaced it is basically insufficient with poor planning, and the tax gain goes to the state, not local cities and counties. Fillmore, back then, got a lucky break because the State made an error in a tax refund. That error allowed the town to pay off the loans, bonds, contracts etc. and keep the assets while paying back the error at a later date. Many towns weren’t that lucky. The loans were pulled and assets were surrendered to the State.
This month, for the first time, our interest on debt has surpassed our GDP. A redline crossed to financial collapse. Almost $40 trillion in debt!!!! We spend $2.8 billion in interest each day, the fastest growing part of the Federal Budget. Each year we spend more than we take in. We borrow from our future through bonds, loans, credit cards trying to keep a lifestyle we’ve become accustomed to and feel entitled to keep.
Is the “public investment” you mention infrastructure, durable goods. healthcare, snap, education, housing? How do you suggest that be done? Just because someone has blank checks doesn’t mean they can keep cashing them when their account is empty.
Jean McLeod
Fillmore, Ca
***
To the Editor:
In February, Republicans smugly declared that Trump’s “47-years-overdue courageous attack”, urged by Israel, did not require Congressional approval; or providing a definitive public case to Americans; securing allied cooperation for aggressive military action; considering unforeseen consequences; or framing an exit strategy.
Last Friday, the world relaxed when the US and Iran co-signed an MOU, a loose, preliminary commitment that:
- Does not embody Iran’s “unconditional surrender” Trump bragged about;
- Does not require regime change (“I think they have become much less radicalized,” Trump said, all evidence to the contrary);
- Gives Iran relief from sanctions;
- Opens the Hormuz Strait and gives Iran at-will control after 60 days;.
- Makes no mention of a limitation on ballistic missiles or drones;
- Gives Iran 60 days to reinstate the Obama administration’s 2015 “no nuclear bomb ever, with expert inspections” commitment that Trump 45 trashed in 2018;
- Commits that Israel will cease bombing Lebanon, though Netanyahu was not a signatory, and has already resumed bombardment; and
- Makes Iran’s $300-billion frozen or restricted assets “fully available.”
Recall that in 2018, Trump claimed Iran had “laughed at Obama” over the $1.7-billion payment in 2015, calling him “a stupid son-of-a-bitch.” Comedian John Oliver has noted that “Trump is about to discover the Persian word for somebody [over 150] times dumber than that.”
The conservative WSJournal declared that Trump and his administration, “think that we [the American public] are imbeciles” and will believe the MOU is a victory. The ultraconservative National Review reported that, “If the MOU were followed to the letter, the humiliations to which Trump has committed the United States could exceed his critics’ most fatalistic expectations.” Republican Congressionals are said to be privately “going through the stages of grief,” even as some publicly defend the “Peace Agreement.”
The day after the signing, Iran re-closed the Strait when Israel resumed bombing and stated it would never relinquish uranium enrichment for non-military uses. Fox News reported that Trump went “bonkers”, not against Israel, but told Iranian officials, “you close it [the Strait] and you won’t have a country. You won’t even make it back to your f—king country.” Fox also reported Trump’s ”threats to assassinate Iran’s leadership, impose draconian US tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, and occupy Iran with the US military.” Iran responded with counter-threats. Unfortunately, it is a maxim that when you invade a hornets’ nest, the hornets will decide when the attack is over.
On the diplomacy front, the G-7 meeting in France was a disaster. Upon arrival, Trump power-grabbed Brigitte Macron’s hand and wouldn’t release it until President Macron intervened. At one point, Trump had to be guided back to the assembly from which he had wandered after proclaiming, “I am the boss”, insulted Italy’s Prime Minister Meloni with a lie, and was giddily thrilled at being invited to dinner at Versailles, where “the gold is the real deal,” (not glued-on gold leaf). Returning to the US, Trump reposted a statement declaring him “by far the most powerful person that has ever walked this planet.”
Trump’s malignant narcissism, inability to accept responsibility for error or fault, gargantuan rapacity, default dishonesty, and humanitarian indifference, are now augmented by marked physical and mental decline, and he is cornered by his own twisted ego. The tragedy is that Trump is also eroding our American stature as a nation of laws, a beacon of hope, defender of democracy, and respected world power. And, although we have a Constitutional remedy, the Republican Congress will allow Trump to persist.
Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore, Ca