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Musk and Ramaswamy are ready to go to war with seniors. Trump will not save Social Security.

Musk and Ramaswamy’s war on seniors

During his first term, Donald Trump proposed billions in cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – billions in each budget!

When he took office in 2024, he claimed he was “protecting” them.

Now Donald Trump has tasked Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, and Vivek Ramaswamy, a pharmaceutical billionaire, with a commission to destroy and burn the government by cutting the federal budget by $2 trillion.

And JD Vance recently confirmed that Musk has Social Security in his sights.

Americans did not vote to cut Social Security and Medicare.

Not even for higher drug prices. In fact, Trump made a promise to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Based on his long history of attempting to cut and undermine our earned benefits, we should not trust that promise for a second. But we have to make sure he keeps it.

Elon Musk, holding his son, and Vivek Ramaswamy, in blue tie, visit Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress on December 5, 2024.

There’s a good reason why Trump hasn’t campaigned on cutting Social Security: Americans overwhelmingly think that’s a terrible idea.

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Whether they come for administrative funding or benefits, Elon and Vivek’s committee will declare war on the seniors. So we need to send a clear message: hands off Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

It’s our money. We have paid for our entire working life.

Jennifer Logan, Brunswick

Developing good citizens is the key to our future

Those too young to vote but old enough to understand had plenty of drama to watch this past election season.

Despite easy access to millions of opinions, the data suggests that the family is the environment that has the most influence on a person’s political views. The questions children ask at home about politicians and issues matter because our answers to them shape the future of our nation.

If the ideological polarization we are experiencing as a country starts at home, we can all be part of the solution by asking our children questions before we tell them our own answers.

What if we taught them about human rights before pushing a party line? What if we discussed what makes a good leader in general, before we portray political figures as “good guys” or “bad guys”?

May our focus be on developing good citizens, rather than on dividing the youngest among us into a blue team and a red team. We may be raising a generation that is more concerned with solving problems than taking sides.

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Erin Bellingham, Columbus

Trump has already proven himself unfit

The word ‘resignation’ does not just have ‘nation’ in it. It cuts both ways to understand the state of politics in America.

Democrats are expected to accept a new administration under newly-elected President Donald Trump. It seems like the right thing to do, as Trump received the majority of votes cast in the November election.

Still, a slim majority, considering he received only 2.3 million more of the roughly 152.2 million votes cast, a fact that points to a balance of power in America.

But Americans aren’t the only ones to disagree.

Democrats and Republicans are so divergent that they are at each other’s throats. It is absurd to expect Democrats to stand by an administration they voted against because they see it as a deviation from America’s core values.

Trump gave half of America even more reason to strongly oppose him last month when he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that he could deport Dreamers’ children en masse after ending the birthright, enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Not to mention that the incompetence inherent in Trump’s cabinet-level choices indicates a dereliction of duty on his part.

While Republicans remain stubbornly loyal to Trump, Democrats could call for him to resign, arguing that President Richard Nixon’s “resignation” was relatively minor in comparison.

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John E. Reinier Sr., Columbus

Is this freedom or anarchy?

It is clear that Americans have the freedom to do, buy, post online, or say just about anything they want or want, but we have no freedom from fear, pain, or suffering. Our national and personal well-being is under threat as a lack of national health care, racism, classism, epidemic obesity, the proliferation of weapons, insane wealth and wage disparities, and increasing indiscriminate violence all affect us in various negative ways.

The politicians have discovered that if they just take turns, they never actually have to do anything important.

Great freedom without great responsibility and real accountability is really just anarchy.

Jay Smith, Columbus

The universe has a sense of humor

Donald Trump is expected to slip back into the White House on Monday.

Nine days later the Lunar New Year begins which will be known as the Year of the Snake.

How appropriate is that? It seems the universe has a sense of humor.

Martin Bramlett, Ravenna

Disrespect is the new norm

Anyone who disrespects the presidency is not fit for office.

President-elect Donald Trump did not attend President Joe Biden’s inauguration and wished him well. Now he has whined his way into keeping the flags of the United States flying in full during our national time of mourning for Jimmy Carter.

Since most Americans voted for Donald, this must be the new American norm: disrespect and rudeness to our heads of state. What a nation we have become.

Michaelynn Fiorini, Columbus

This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Trump’s Billionaire Friends Poised to Steal Social Security| Letters

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