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Trump’s awards for Fake News cause real worry

I understand the president is going to have an awards show on Monday. He is giving awards to the “FAKE” media. Are you kidding me? Is this what he spends his time on?

I can hear Sean Hannity now if Obama pulled something like this but don’t think you will hear anything but praise from him. I continue to be amazed at the amount of time the president spends tweeting about insignificant issues and when it is a significant issue, he usually takes the position of a bully, calling world and political leaders his pet “nicknames.”

I saw some tweets today where he has begun to refer to himself in the third person. I do believe he is becoming disconnected from reality. Isn’t there enough to be concerned about without constantly trying to prove how important and powerful he is. I have been worrying about this for a long time. We are as close to a thermonuclear war as we have been in 55 years and he calls the North Korean leader names. This is childish behaviour which I am sure his base (now about 33 percent) loves but the rest of the world views as I do and is desperately hoping he will turn off Twitter.

I do not think President Trump understands the oath he took to “preserve, protect and defend” our Constitution. In fact, I don’t even think he has read the Constitution. I would bet he doesn’t know the Pledge of Allegiance. I encourage all of you to look up “Red Skelton on the Pledge Of Allegiance” on YouTube. It will open your eyes to the real meaning of the Pledge. Please look it up.

I thank God I can write this without the threat of retaliation. Thank you, Founding Fathers. —Russell Stilwell Jr., Kalispell

Hey Congress: What’s in it for the American people?

Between now and Jan. 19, our government must decide how much of our tax dollars they can spend and how much they should borrow on our grandchildren’s income to keep this government going.

How much money for the military, how much for infrastructure projects, how much money in foreign aid to countries that hate us, how much money to NATO and to the United Nations, how much money on the environment and how much money to be spent on the never ending Trump/Russia collusion story? Then throw in the last remaining item on the agenda that Democrats are screaming bloody murder about: “If something isn’t done about DACA, then we’ll shut down the government.”

How about jobs, the economy, the stock market, North Korea, the Middle East, education and foreign trade — they aren’t at the top as far as priorities go with the Democrats? But 800,000 illegal aliens versus 350 million American citizens, and the Democrats are going bonkers over this?

How many U.S. veterans do we have that are homeless on the streets of America? Wouldn’t you think that would be a priority? How about the 60,000 deaths last year from opioid overdose and the vast amount of these drugs being smuggled into the country from China? Or how about the 33 schools within the greater Baltimore, Maryland, School District that cannot reach a level of sixth-grade proficiency in math, English or science? That is only one school district, but how many across the USA are on the same level as the schools in Baltimore?

You would think that Democrats and career political Republicans just might want to consider these items before granting any kind of amnesty or more green cards to 800,000 people who came into this country illegally to start with. How many DACA immigrants are in state prisons? How many DACA immigrants belong to gangs? How many DACA immigrants are working as maids and janitors and taking these unskilled occupations away from a vast amount of unskilled American workers? How many of these DACA folks are working in the service industry and taking away part-time afterschool and summer jobs for kids and college students?

It is estimated by the year 2030 that robotics will be replacing a very large portion of the unskilled industry occupations, so why are we as a nation allowing 1 million people a year into this country and most aren’t rocket scientists, but unskilled labor?

Maybe it’s time we ask those who are spending our tax dollars, what’s in it for us? —Jim Garvey, Kalispell

Single payer health-care is needed now

For once Congress needs to listen to its voters, not its multimillion-dollar donors and do the right thing. Replace ACA with single-payer health-care. We are the only major industrialized country in the world that does not insure that all its citizens have adequate health insurance. —James Lockwood, Whitefish

GOP tax plan is just a tax scam

The big Christmas present Republicans said they were giving taxpayers is a pawn ticket on their future for about $27,000 each IF the debt only goes up the $1.4 trillion they admit to up front and not the $6 trillion some economists predict.

That is $27K not available for roads, schools, parks and such. Of course that’s part of the plan to privatize everything that can have a penny wrung out of it. They admit the deficit that results from this will be used as an excuse to cut Social Security and Medicare, programs we have paid for all our life.

And even Democrats fall in line and sign a $750 million defense spending bill without a blink — for a Pentagon that recent audits have shown has “lost” several trillion dollars over the past decade or so. So the bill for those tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations and feeding Raytheon et al ends up more like $150,000 each for us lucky trickled-ons. —Bob Petersen, Evergreen

Socialism has a few drawbacks

In response to Jerry Straka:

Venezuela has already sorted out the bad guys from the working class heroes. It’s been hard, but they managed to convert most of the population to the socialist line. Some needed more convincing than others.

If you visit there, you can see for yourself. Be sure to take your own toilet paper, though. —William Rice, Kalispell

Thanks to the plow operators

Hats off to all the snowplow operators — state, county, city, and private. The governor should proclaim a special day just for you. For those who may have missed it, the Flathead Valley has just gone through a major snow emergency. I have lived in Montana since 1951. Never have I seen it any worse. However, the snowplow operators knew it was their family and friends and children who were out there traveling on the roads they take care of. May God love them all, for we the people do.

There is an old saying, from Wordsworth I think, “... may God yield thee, and God thank ye.” —Ed Dramer, Kalispell