To the Editor:

Martin, your Editorial last week was astounding. I wish I could address each point, but there are daily Trumpian affronts to democracy, and I have space to address but a few.

I lament your boredom with budget proposals because when they are adopted, while not law, they are a blueprint for appropriations that will affect us all. You’re uninterested until proposals are already adopted (as with P2025), to avoid seeing it coming. Exactly the attitude needed to founder a democracy.

I could again explain the situation with Medicare and Social Security, but why? The facts are available everywhere except on Fox. Not interested enough to follow it? In time, the facts may find you. Unrelated, but “whataboutism” is an adolescent’s defense and yours about Biden are ridiculous. Countless hours of rabid Republican accusations and hearings provided no presidential criminal issue, except as against Hunter Biden who was not president.
I was precipitous last week. As of this writing, the highlight of the jet debacle is still Trump’s pouty demand for a used “Flying Palace” that was discarded by the Emir of Qatar because he couldn’t unload it elsewhere. Trump argues that AG Pam Bondi approved the “gift.” Fun fact: between Trump terms, Bondi was Qutar’s paid lobbyist in DC. Whatever the outcome, Trump reveals himself again as a petulant child who didn’t get what he wanted for Christmas.

Face it, Trump got rolled twice by China on tariffs. He didn’t score well even with an old ally, the EU, because he has previously and gratuitously insulted them. Someday, it will be acknowledged that tariffs were a Trump vanity project, wherein the “great negotiator” was managed by China, and in the Ukrainian war by Russia.

The conservative WSJ reports that the House Republicans pushed Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” forward on Sunday night that will not reduce federal budget deficits, because it renews tax cuts for the wealthy. The bill slashes Medicaid, strips medical and disease research, health care for millions, and reduces SNAP. It establishes “hard-core GOP priorities” of P2025, including opening public lands to aggressive logging, drilling, and mining and decimating EPA (Clean Air, Clean Water, etc.). It shuts down the Department of Education and consumer protections, and severely curtails FEMA.

Walmart has said it will raise prices to pay for Trump’s tariffs, and Trump ordered them to “eat the tariffs,” just as he did to Amazon and Mattel. Fat chance Trump would “eat” a loss, but they must. These companies are realistic. As their costs predictably rise because of the Trump tariffs, their prices to consumers will rise, too. But Trump promised prices wouldn’t rise. Either he doesn’t understand tariffs, or he lied and no one can call him on it. Or both.

To be fair, there are some “fun ideas” emanating from the WH. ICE Barbie Kristi Noem is developing a “great concept,” a TV “reality show” that pitches illegal immigrants against each other for expedited citizenship! In San Francisco, immigrants would go down into a mine to collect the most gold! In Hayward, WI, they’d struggle to keep their balance on logs! At Cape Canaveral, contestants would rush to build and launch a rocket! And, “Americans would learn to treasure their citizenship.”

An administration of carny barkers, top to bottom.

Kelly Scoles
Fillmore, Ca.