A three-headed monster on its way to Washington
Brick, N.J.: The term “Trumpomuskovia” was created by Timothy Snyder, a Yale political analyst and author, to describe what America is becoming. The combination of a frequently-failed millionaire of limited intellect (Donald Trump) with an authentic multi-billionaire ($400 billion) sporting a genius-level IQ (Elon Musk) augurs poorly for all citizens who are not of the billionaire class. The compound word also speaks to the tripartite nature of their world control…Trump, Musk and Putin.
The job Musk bought for himself (with his many millions of dollars he spent to help Trump win) is supposedly about government efficiency and elimination of waste in government spending. Bringing all spending under strict control will bring about a thriving economy… doubling, then tripling in size! But the actual plan is rather sinister and cynical.
Cutting back on government departments and/or eliminating undesirable ones will accomplish freeing up trillions dedicated to the benefit of common citizens and to issues of the common good so as to provide huge and permanent tax cuts for billionaires and major corporations. By this legerdemain, the last semblance of wealth owned by the lower 80% will be shifted forever to the top 1% in the billionaire class. Eventually the superrich individuals and corporations will not have to pay taxes at all, while the working classes carry the entire load of government.
The departments to be subsumed and absorbed into the Oval Office are: Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Justice, State and Treasury. Departments to be starved of funding and eliminated are: Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs (“losers”). Welcome to Trumpomuskovia! Nicholas S. Molinari
Life-saving help
Herkimer, N.Y.: For 25 years, I helped cancer patients by assisting them to receive the best possible treatment. After retiring, I was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. To keep it at bay, I rely on a medicine that carries a monthly list price exceeding $17,000. The cost is unbearable. I’m forced to rely on patient assistance programs to access treatment I need to survive. Not a day goes by that this cost doesn’t loom over my head. I’m often consumed by the possibility of losing my grant and going without my cancer treatment due to the cost. But this will finally change next year. Thanks to the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare will implement an annual $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket costs beginning in January 2025. I’ll remain standing alongside patients to ensure this relief is here to stay. Lynn Scarfuto
Life and death matters
Edgewater, N.J.: We were told during this last election that everyone loved their private health insurance and that the mean lady was going to take it all away from us if we voted for her. Now we have evidence that the CEO of our largest private health insurance payer, which has faced much controversy over its relatively high rate of denial of health care claims while providing coverage to more than 49 million people, was intentionally gunned down with bullets marked with three words — deny, defend, depose — indicating that maybe what we’d been told for the last several months was just another campaign lie. Jay K. Egelberg
Ban ghost guns
Philadelphia: Luigi Mangione had a connection to Philadelphia being a student at the University of Pennsylvania. Police say Mangione, the suspect in the homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, used a 3D-printed pistol — a ghost gun — and a 3D-printed silencer in the New York City shooting. As the Associated Press reported, Mangione “likely was motivated by his anger at what he called ‘parasitic’ health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed.” It is terrible that a life was taken away apparently because of a hot-tempered opinion toward the American health care system. To prevent such violence, ghost guns must be taken off our streets permanently. And Gov. Josh Shapiro should use the power of his office to fight for legislation that would make these guns illegal across Pennsylvania. Alim Howell
Hitting the jackpot
Bronx: Congratulations to Juan Soto. However, the fact that he got three quarters of a billion dollars to play a game is a clear indication of how desperate we Americans are to be distracted by entertainment. Randall Borra
Adding to the problem
Brooklyn: Why is there so much congestion in NYC? I’ll tell you. The city permitted an additional 12,564 for-hire vehicles (FHV) between February 2023 and February 2024. This increased the FHV from 95,376 to 107,636. You can stand at any corner and see that the vehicles with TLC plates outnumber passenger vehicles four to one. Let’s not forget the Citi Bike docking stations, bicycle lanes and bus lanes that take up several parking spots. Let’s add the carving out of some of the streets and making friendly pedestrian rest stops. A new way to create more congestion is to carve out certain streets on Fifth Ave. to expand the sidewalks by almost half and scale back traffic lanes from five to three lanes. I could go on, but the ones responsible for congestion and congestion pricing are our city representatives. Joseph Maya
Clean Kathy
Manhattan: Three years ago this month, Gov. Hochul announced New York’s Advanced Clean Truck rule. With it, New York joins eight other states in requiring truck manufacturers to increase annually the number of zero-emission medium- and heavy-weight trucks they manufacture while creating a substantial market for those trucks. Just last month, our governor buttressed the rule’s momentum by signing on to a plea to truck and truck-engine manufacturers to collaborate properly with this sensible emissions-reducing project rather than gum it up. As anyone who has inhaled anywhere near a truck-bearing highway knows, our governor deserves heartfelt thanks for this initiative. Climate leadership means leadership in bringing down costs and improving health for New Yorkers, especially under Trump, who is set to roll back all efforts to reduce climate pollution. Thomas A. Caffrey
Part of our history
Manhattan: To Voicer Sylvia Johnson: It’s easy to sleep when you don’t see the humanity in other people, which is part of the Black American story in our country. Heyward Johnson
Biden’s Syria push
Merced, Calif.: The fall of Bashar Assad’s government is actually good news for President Biden, and maybe a Christmas gift given to him by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It is good that a bad government that had chemical and biological weapons is gone. The credit for the fall of Assad’s government was his idea as much as it was not that of George Walker Bush, Barack Obama or Donald Trump. The story of the son of Hafez Assad should be told to visitors to Biden’s presidential library when it opens in Wilmington, Del. one day. John Huerta
Destroying the arsenal
Manhattan: In his anti-Israel missive, Voicer Jim Carney laments the fact that Israel is dropping bombs on Syria “with lightning speed” and falsely claims that Israel’s goal is to “keep killing more innocent women and children.” What utter nonsense. Israel’s actual goal, which it has largely accomplished, is to destroy the vast arsenal of weapons and military hardware left behind by the disintegrated Assad military to prevent the capture of vast storehouses of sophisticated equipment and missiles by one or more of the myriad jihadist terror groups for use against Israeli and American troops in the region. Ephraim Savitt
Too much time
Darien, Conn.: Daniel Penny knew when to stop his chokehold, but he didn’t. Why did he not stop? Someone there just had to remind him when 6 minutes were coming up. Does Penny need a watch and a hearing aid? Dan Singer
After the fact
Staten Island: When a tragedy occurs then someone says we must correct this problem. How many people have been shot to death? Then the solution is to do background checks before a gun is sold. How many people have mental disabilities and are walking around the city streets? A mentally ill man is killed in a subway incident and now someone says the mental health laws have to be changed. My query is why are these laws reviewed at certain times to be able to possibly detect problems. I say look for preventative measures now instead of after a tragedy. Jeffrey Van Pelt
