President Donald Trump backs the 3 R’s: The rich, the richer and the richest | Opinion

Trump and the rich

Donald Trump must be doing a good job. He is all for the three R’s: the rich, the richer and the richest.

Gerhard G. Carrle, Fresno

Trump believes he is entitled

Trump’s statement that he is going to have Gaza, will take Gaza, , gives veracity to the women who claim sexual abuse by him, plus his claims of ownership of the Panama Canal and the Gulf of Mexico. This demonstrates Trump’s view: He is entitled to do anything, regardless of laws, morals or the demands of humanity.

Question: Will we do about it?

Witnessing the indifference this nation has shown toward the plight of Palestinians, not only makes them accomplices but displays the readiness of this nation to accept the perverted animalistic mindset of Trump, his staff and his supporters.

Let’s consider the recent actions of Target, which embraced Trump’s dismantling of affirmative action, aka DEI, but went on to rid their stores of “Black merchandise” this law required them to carry and made it very clear, they will no longer carry these items. It speaks to the entrenched racial hatred against Black people, contrary to claims of “civil rights progress.”

Consider the person at the gas station, calling the police on the immigrant selling passados. This, brother and sisters, is classic racism and destroys the little hope we have of a just and civilized country. Something to consider.

Jovita Harrah, Fresno

Budget cuts equal fewer services

These federal government “budget cuts” in the news mean fewer or no services for veterans, seniors, the disabled and students.

Veterans who have served their country and got jobs in government are being fired and their benefits are being taken away: “Thank you for your service.” They sacrificed for their country and this is the thanks they get.

Seniors and the disabled on Social Security and/or SSI or applying for benefits will lose Medicaid and will wait longer to receive service, benefit updates and payments due to 50% staffing and budget cuts.

Farmers who had contracts to provide food for starving people in Africa and elsewhere are not able to hire the workers they need because of the administration’s rounding up of undocumented farm workers, and are losing their crops and livelihoods. Their income has been pulled out from under them. Family farms may be lost.

The Department of Education helps with loans to college and trade school students, school lunches and special education. This department is on the chopping block. Kids with learning disabilities will be shoved in a corner without anyone to give them the tools needed to become independent adults.

Sylvia D. Norman, Fresno

Trump more unfavorable than Zelensky

In the March 3 Fresno Bee, it states that Donald Trump in February stated that Ukrainian Leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s approval rating was 4% and that he was a dictator without election. Each comment that Trump made was in fact not true, which is not all that surprising as The Washington Post documented more than 30,000 claims Trump made in his first term which were untrue.

In fact, Zelensky’s approval rating in a poll of 1,600 U.S. adults was exactly the same as Trump’s at 47%. The only difference was that Trump’s unfavorability rating was 49% compared to Zelensky’s 28%.

It’s a sad day for our country when the American people think more highly of the Ukrainian president than the American president.

Stephen Sacks, Fresno

Stand up, speak out

I am a lifelong Republican. I believe that the government should be as small as possible. But the government does need to exist and does need to do what business cannot do.

The government must help ensure that laws are fair and applied fairly to everyone. The government must help ensure that no person or group has excessive power. The government must help ensure that foreign relations are handled fairly and honestly and that the United States is represented with integrity.

The government must help guard against the tyranny of the majority, where one voting bloc, even if by a slim majority, takes advantage of and represses a minority. The government has built-in checks and balances to prevent one branch from gaining excessive power.

Every one of these mandates is breaking down at a frightening pace. I can no longer sit by and allow this to happen. It is my responsibility to take a more active role by standing up and speaking out. I encourage my fellow citizens to do the same.

Terry Hutchison, Clovis

Fast-food workers need the council

Despite the claim in a recent U.S. Viewpoints article, I do not believe that the California Fast-Food Council should be abolished.

A council that focuses on making sure that fast food workers are paid a decent wage compared to the cost of living in California is something that is essential for a work force that has historically been undervalued and unappreciated.

If franchisees are genuinely worried that this council and its set of standards will lead to more lawsuits over labor violations, it implies that they knowingly mistreat their employees and have been used to getting away with it.

The claim that because of the existence of this council and the increase in fast food workers minimum wage being the sole purpose of for the higher prices when grabbing a quick bite is unfounded. It does not provide any proof to back up that statement and we all have experienced firsthand higher prices for almost everything across the board.

The Fast-Food Council ensures that a regularly marginalized work force is paid a livable wage while simultaneously instilling in them a sense of pride in the work they do as well as the employer they do it for.

Ivan Renteria, Los Banos