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In response to the writer accusing Democrats of not being able to "just let it go", I am writing as someone who is not a Democrat, and I am not happy about what I am seeing. We need to stop being divided by party and look at what is happening. We can not listen to pundits. We need to read the news and decide if this is good for the country and us as individuals.
The Agriculture Department has axed two programs that gave school programs and food banks money to buy food from local farms and ranchers.This is money schools and child care facilities count on to purchase food from nearby farms through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Programming this year. Cancelled. The Local Food Purchase Assistance Agreement Program, which supports food banks, has been cut. Feeding children and supporting local farmers are no longer a priority.
The U.S. has declared a tariff war on most of the world, including countries the current administration made trade deals with in 2018, declaring these deals the best deals ever made. Rather than renegotiating them, we are imposing high tariffs. The world is reciprocating, and the result is a disaster for our stock market, and our individual retirement accounts, and higher prices for all of us.
The NIH has begun a mass termination of research grants. The Department of Education is being dismantled. It distributes federal funding to schools and colleges, administers federal student aid programs including loans and grants to help students afford higher education and enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination in programs and activities receiving federal funds. Also, it supports programs for children with disabilities (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).
Elon Musk's DOGE team are accessing our most classified information, including the Social Security Administration, the US Treasury, and the IRS just to name a few. The concern is their lack of high security clearance. They have access to our social security numbers, bank account information, tax returns, etc. And it is not read only access. None of us should be comfortable with this. We are also being lied to, including in the speech to the joint session, about fraud in Social Security. The Inspector General's 2024 report showed less than 1% of improper, or erroneous, payments were overpayments to living people. Tens of millions of people over 100 years old are not receiving benefits.
I am listing a small sample of why I am unhappy with what is going on with the administration and how they are approaching how to fix problems with our government agencies. It should be done professionally and slowly, with a close look at the ramifications of their actions before they are done rather than after. Firing federal workers who oversee the nuclear weapons stockpile, and then realizing the mistake, cannot be tolerated. Firing federal employees who are responsible for producing air traffic navigation maps is unacceptable, particularly in light of so many recent air disasters.
We should be speaking up and demanding better. I am not thinking about the election, I am thinking about the future. I don't care about Republicans or Democrats right now, I care about us coming together and speaking up.
JOAN DERSHEM
Williamsport
Submitted by Virtual Newsroom