Letters: GOP focused only on themselves; ‘Quiet, Piggy’ shows Trump’s true nature
GOP focused only on themselves
Everyone wants what’s best for themselves and their families. We try to elect candidates who will work to make our lives better. That’s why it’s so hard to understand the greed and cruelty of Trump and elected Republicans focused only on their own self-interests while causing tremendous suffering for so many Americans.
The Republican “Big Beautiful Bill” extends another huge tax break for Trump and his fellow billionaires ballooning our national debt by trillions. It causes children to go hungry withholding SNAP food assistance and closes rural hospitals. ACA health insurance premiums will skyrocket while millions of Americans lose their health insurance altogether.
As Americans struggle to pay their bills, Trump lies, saying that inflation is decreasing, while demolishing the east wing of “The People’s House” to build a $300 million ballroom. He even attended a lavish “Great Gatsby” party at Mar-a-Lago the night before halting SNAP.
Federal workers were being fired or forced to work without pay while the Republican-led Congress enjoyed a lengthy paid vacation. Instead of working to negotiate solutions for America’s health care crisis, House Speaker Mike Johnson kept the House out of session to delay swearing in the newly elected Arizona Congresswoman who provided the final vote to release the Epstein Files.
It shouldn’t have to be so hard to get Trump and his Republicans to care about suffering American families!
Remember all their selfish cruelty as you make life better for yourself and your family by voting these Republicans out of office during next year’s mid-term election.
George Polycranos, Port Matilda
‘Quiet, Piggy’ shows Trump’s true nature
Both before and after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, there was (correctly) a broad-based feeling that political rhetoric needed to be dialed down. However, we know clearly that Donald Trump’s base instincts don’t allow that. All the way back to his very first primary debates he blithely gave derogatory nicknames to his opponents, and his disparaging descriptors continue to the present day.
Could anyone imagine Presidents Reagan, Carter, or George H.W. Bush, or any CEO for that matter, uttering the phrase: “Quiet, Piggy,” as Donald Trump did recently when addressing a female reporter? Later, this was brushed off by the White House as just “feisty” language and then on to the next insult in a sense of business as usual.
Dialing down the rhetoric?? This is his true nature distilled down to a simple and despicable two word phrase. Are there still reasons anyone should continue to support this person?
Leigh D. Wheeler, State College
Defending democracy
A recent study finds that if just 12 million Americans (3.5% of the population) consistently engage in peaceful protest, Donald Trump’s march toward authoritarian rule could collapse as political and financial backers abandon him. Recent demonstrations have already drawn more than seven million participants — each one larger than the last. This rising tide of civic courage may be our best chance to defend democracy before it’s too late.
Trump has shown utter contempt for truth, law and the institutions meant to safeguard us. He has enriched himself at public expense, dismantled protections for the vulnerable, and ruled through fear and division. Programs that feed the hungry and care for the elderly are being gutted. Higher education and a free press — the lifeblood of democracy — are under attack.
He has issued unconstitutional executive orders, deported people without due process, and weaponized the Department of Justice against political opponents. Masked federal agents — armed like soldiers — have assaulted peaceful demonstrators and expanded surveillance of American citizens.
By calling Democrats “vermin” and labeling protesters “terrorists,” Trump is normalizing hate and preparing the ground for violence.
This is not partisan hysteria — it is a warning history repeats. Democracies die when citizens stay silent. They survive only when people rise, peacefully and persistently, to defend the freedoms that define them. The time to act is now.
Doug Keith, State College