Lutnick reminds us we must be informed
Howard Lutnick, Trump’s secretary of commerce, while commenting on the public’s reaction if changes to Social Security result in checks not going out for a month, said that his mother-in-law wouldn’t really be concerned. She’d just assume, “I’ll get it next month.” He followed that with the outlandish statement that the first people who would complain wouldn’t be the average American. It would be the Social Security fraudsters because they always complain first when they don’t get their money.
For a man worth $1.5 billion, it’s fair to assume he and his mother-in-law would never feel the impact of missing a Social Security check. But for millions of Americans, that’s not the case. As commerce secretary, he should know something about the rest of us. So here’s a fact for him to consider.
According to the Social Security Administration, more than half of the monthly income for about 25 million retirees comes from Social Security. Millions of recipients can’t wait till next month, and their monthly bills won’t either.
Why should an offhand comment like Mr. Lutnick’s matter? Because it’s another example of high-ranking, uber-wealthy individuals in or affiliated with this administration demonstrating their ignorance and lack of empathy for the people they serve. And it’s a warning of what might be coming for your Social Security.
When our health, security, legal and social well-being are at stake, we don’t need individuals like Mr. Lutnick managing our future. The president and his department heads are all moving at warp speed to implement their agendas, hoping we will be too overwhelmed to understand the consequences.
But it’s our responsibility to stay informed. Local, state and national elected officials need to know you are listening to what they say and aren’t afraid to voice your concerns about what they are planning to do.
One last thing. Mr. Lutnick needn’t look at those who would contact Social Security first. They’ll never get through. The dramatic cuts being made to customer service call centers and area offices will take care of that.
Rick Platz
Cleveland, Tennessee
Ideas for a sane town hall event
Many people have expressed support for a town hall meeting featuring our representative in Congress, Chuck Fleischmann. The same people share doubts, however, that such a meeting could ever take place. Our speaker of the House has discouraged these meetings, and it has been suggested similar events were infiltrated by paid subversive elements, who caused things to spiral toward mayhem. Still, it would be nice to learn “from the horse’s mouth” his take on the Republican agenda, our president’s true objectives, and the means he is using to get us there.
To accommodate the enthusiasm for a town hall and eliminate any chance of radicals hijacking the occasion, let’s organize a televised event. People could respond to a Times Free Press invitation to “Ask your Congressman” by submitting written questions. The editorial staff could select representative examples of the most prevalent ones. These could be read to Fleischmann at the event by someone like the trustworthy David Carroll, and any follow-up questions could be asked by the mayor of Walden, Lee Davis.
It’s a win-win. Let’s do this!
Sean Caulfield
Compassion empty without budget fixes
Former Times page editor Michael Loftin fairly asks of proposed Tennessee legislation which could potentially require tuition payments of immigrant families, “Where’s the compassion?” Certainly the same question could be asked of the impact of DOGE-instigated cuts on terminated federal employees, eliminated federal programs, and on those who are the recipients of reduced federal appropriations. Where compassion is concerned, most of us would agree that there should be few limits.
But that’s not the whole story — not by a long shot. You reported several days ago via George Will’s commentary that in the first four months of this fiscal year alone, the U.S. had added $838 billion to the national debt — nearly $210 billion per month, or $7 billion per day, or about a billion every 3.5 hours — numbers utterly beyond comprehension and yet fiscally and economically devastating, even if eventually addressed. Loftin’s plea would be far more credible if all of us who share it would offer serious proposals for how to get our fiscal house in order and how to end the current spending trajectory and overthrow the status quo. Absent this discussion, then the pleas for compassion are simply one-sided. If not the aggressive DOGE tactics, then what pray tell?
Gary Lindley
Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Peaceful discussion means both parties
I am in total agreement with the premise of Sunday’s letter, “Expression through discussion, voting.” The writer said that citizens should peacefully discuss issues, write letters to local papers, write to elected representatives, vote, and, if your candidate doesn’t win, “No violence. No hate.”
I am left scratching my head because he addressed his letter specifically to those who dislike or hate our current president. Count me among those who believe Trump is a malignant narcissist who has no concern for America’s — or people without big bucks’ — best interests. I would remind him that it was the MAGA extreme right, election denier legislators and Trump himself who tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power when Joe Biden was lawfully elected. When Trump was elected, the transfer of power was peaceful even though many of us, almost half of the voters, were devastated. We practiced the behaviors that the writer rightfully encourages. I would respectfully suggest he addressed his letter to the wrong constituency.
This, it seems to me, is a good time to recommend Richard Haass’s recent book “The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens.” Reading it is time well spent.
Nancy Bishop
Ooltewah, Tennessee
Are we close to being controlled by Putin?
What does it take for all good Americans to understand just how close our country is to being controlled by a Russian dictator? How much do you have to witness with your own eyes how this president is being controlled and manipulated by Vladimir Putin? It’s literally right there for all Americans to see.
Putin is holding something earth-shattering on Donald Trump, and it’s obvious, especially when the two are together. When he’s around anyone else, he acts all tough and belligerent and like he knows everything, which he doesn’t, but when he’s with Putin he acts like a tiny puppy that’s starving for his attention.
If you haven’t witnessed this, or it just blew right by you, then your eyes and your mind are closed off.
Who would have ever thought that we would be living in the last days of the American experiment? If the American people do not rise up in overwhelming numbers and stand firm against Trump and the ones allowing him carte blanch, then I’m afraid we will lose our precious democracy. This would mean Americans starving in large numbers and having no health care and leading into a civil war. You do realize it’s happened before, assuming you know anything about history. Scary stuff, huh!
I find it to be impossible to express sufficiently the urgency of the dilemma we are all in. I know I’m not alone when I say I fear for our country, and I especially fear for future generations who may not have the opportunity to prosper.
Calvin V. Henderson
A little perspective on blown-up rockets
A brief comment about an item in the “Rant” on March 16: “Maybe we shouldn’t hand over our air traffic control system to a guy (Musk) whose rockets keep blowing up.” Although I could be wrong, I didn’t know there was a proposal to turn over air traffic control to Elon Musk. I thought that would fall under Sean Duffy, the current secretary of transportation.
But whatever the case, the more salient observation would now seem to be, isn’t Musk the guy whose company, Space X, just successfully brought two astronauts back to Earth after they’d been stranded in space for some nine months on what was supposed to have been a 12-day mission? True, some Space X experimental rockets have exploded, but that would seem to be a matter of trial and error, part of a process which obviously led to the instant flawless recovery mission. And whatever one’s politics might be, we should all be thankful to Musk for his accomplishment in this regard.
Howard Brown
Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
Not hard-hearted, we’re just disgusted
In a recently published letter, a writer wrongly accused congressional Democrats of being hard-hearted toward D.J. Daniel and of hating Trump during his recent address to Congress.
Congressional Democrats don’t hate Trump. They’re just disgusted at his exploitation of Daniel, along with Trump’s other unconstitutional, illegal and immoral actions, including threatening Canada with conquest, exceeding his constitutional authority by cutting government expenditures authorized by Congress, and vilifying federal judges who hold him accountable for his violations of the Constitution.
Maybe the writer thinks Trump should have the powers of dictator. Remember, Trump’s winning percentage of the popular vote was 49.8% — not a mandate.
Neil Greenwood
Delano, Tennessee
Treating government like sport hurting us
This administration treats governance like sport rather than service. It prioritizes political victories over functional systems.
Meanwhile, regular Americans just want mail that arrives, teachers who educate effectively and the stability previous generations could count on. These basics shouldn’t be partisan issues.
The aggressive dismantling of institutions using “chainsaws and sledgehammers” when careful reform might be warranted shows poor stewardship. Short-term political wins create long-term societal costs.
Those celebrating this approach fail to recognize they’re weakening the very systems that enable their own success. Eventually, when the infrastructure of a functional society collapses, everyone loses — including those who thought themselves immune to the consequences.
John Mathna