Republicans do not serve our interests
I will never understand so-called right-wing conservatives, just like they would never ever understand me. The debt limit established by the “fiscally conservative” GOP is $5 trillion. Which means if this number is reached, and you know how that goes, then America’s children and their children will be burdened with this debt for decades.
The GOP is well known for pushing debt aside and letting the Democrats deal with it. And this scenario is fully established and is on record. Never think your conservative politicians give a darn about being fiscally responsible, because time has proven over and over they don’t.
For some oddball reason, conservatives figure that taking money away from the poor and the middle classes and giving it to the wealthiest .0005% is being fiscally responsible.
Stop supporting and allowing these anti-American politicians from turning our democracy into an oligarchy. It’s not the America that 99.9% of us know or want, or would ever want.
Join me in a crusade to reinstall what’s good and what’s patriotic in our precious country.
Calvin Henderson
US has turned its back on the world
A new study estimates that USAID — our nation’s international aid agency — saved 92 million lives between 2001 and 2021. Now, under President Trump’s agenda, the agency has been formally closed. Experts warn that eliminating USAID will lead to 14 million preventable deaths in just five years.
And this life-saving work? It has cost us only about 0.01% of the federal budget — a fraction of what we spend on weapons or tax breaks for the wealthy. For that small investment, we’ve sent food, medicine, and hope to people in desperate need.
We’ve also supported American farmers, who supply many of the crops distributed through USAID. Ending these programs doesn’t just hurt the world — it hurts our rural communities too.
But for me, this is about more than numbers. As a Christian, I believe we are called to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and stand with the vulnerable. Turning our backs on suffering is not strength — it’s surrendering the soul of this country.
USAID reflects America at its best: strong, compassionate, and generous. Eliminating it will be a global disaster — and a moral failure here at home.
Betty Gray
Trenton, Georgia
What could go wrong with Mamdani? Plenty
The Chattanooga Times opinion page editor is fawning all over Zohran Mamdani, an avowed democratic socialist, in his July 1 editorial.
He essentially calls Mamdani’s NYC mayoral primary campaign a “winning formula” that all Democratic office seekers should adopt. Mamdani simply took a page out of Oprah Winfrey’s playbook: “You get a car! You get a car! And you get a car!” Who wouldn’t vote for that?
Now, delivering on all his “free stuff” promises is an entirely different story. What we do know thus far is that he wants to increase the property taxes on “richer and whiter neighborhoods.” Hmm, sounds a bit racist to me. He probably needs some clever word gymnastics on that one.
But what about his darker side, something the Times editor conveniently left out? He has so far refused to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada.” At best, it is antisemitic, and at worst, it leads to events like Oct 7. Even the Democratic hierarchy has so far refused to endorse him and his “winning formula.”
You deserve what you vote for. Margaret Thatcher once said, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”
What could possibly go wrong?
Robert Holmes
Apison, Tennessee