To the editor: The Times has done a superb job covering the recent fires, with multiple stories on the front page almost every day since those disasters struck. But there is another, far more destructive disaster happening right now — one affecting millions of people in this country and around the world, one that will have a far greater impact than the fires. (“California officials detail Trump funding freeze ‘chaos,’ warn another could cripple state,” Feb. 16)
And the paper should cover it just as thoroughly.
I’m talking of course about President Trump and Elon Musk gutting federal government programs that serve Americans and so many others around the world. They are doing this illegally, without the sanction of Congress, and they’re doing it against the wishes of the American people.
These programs cover all aspects of peoples’ lives. Trump’s 77.3 million voters surely did not want the vital services on which they depend to be eliminated.
The media have a responsibility, a duty of care, to cover this disaster as diligently as they cover natural disasters. Americans need to be well-informed about autocratic oligarchs radically reshaping our government without our consent so we can stop the harm and vote in future elections for a government that is truly by and for the people.
Zareh Delanchian, Tujunga
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To the editor: Trump is doing what he promised in his campaign, and the American people voted him into office to do just that. They want their government to be responsive to their needs and not be wasteful.
Why is there outrage when our government cuts back by eliminating employees? The Times has laid off hundreds of workers over the years in an effort to stem financial losses and keep the newspaper afloat. It even sent its printing to an outside source.
Why is this not an outrage? Because it’s simple: This is facing reality.
Marcus Kourtjian, Northridge
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To the editor: I have a question for those who supported Trump for president, passively or actively, or rationalized support for him, or thought it didn’t matter who won: What do they think when they read articles such as these?
Is there a twinge of second thought about the heartless chaos they’ve helped unleash? The abrupt firings of thousands in and out of government through no fault of their own? The freezing of grants that fund pre-school for poor children?
Forget the harm around the world from eviscerating the U.S. Agency for International Development or the harm to our legal system from the grotesque politicization of justice in letting New York Mayor Eric Adams off the hook in exchange for supporting Trump’s immigration policies.
What about the harm to folks in California and the country? People who have a harder time getting healthcare or who have lost work in public transportation, water infrastructure, public safety and other sectors?
Any second thoughts? Any at all?
Claude Goldenberg, Seal Beach
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To the editor: “No taxation without representation” was an important enough principle that our colonial forefathers were willing to fight a war for it.
“No spending elimination without representation” is just as vitally important a principle, but Trump is now flouting it.
Implore your representatives in Congress to step up and do the job our forefathers fought for.
James Van Cleve, Claremont