To the Editor:

This budget bill is a disaster!!

It would:

• Make deep cuts to SS, SNAP, Medicaid and Medicare — No!
• Cripple the Judiciary by requiring expensive bonds to use their contempt powers. Contempt powers are necessary to rein in the president's corrupt powers — N0.
• Make tax cuts for already wealthy people and corporations permanent. A family with an income of $5 million would get a tax break of an eye-popping $300,000!

Most of us will never earn that much in a lifetime!!!

Totally unfair — No way!

• Give tax cuts to the rich and would add trillions to the deficit. That is crazy! I thought the Republicans were deficit hawks — No way!

Caryl Brt
Waynesville

Since 1932, the ashlar veneer of the Haywood County Courthouse in Waynesville has borne silent witness to memorable events in local and national history — the Great Depression, World War II, Korea, the Civil Rights era, Vietnam, 9/11, Afghanistan, the Gulf Wars and most recently the county’s first LGBTQ+ Pride celebration — but a gathering on Flag Day, the same day President Donald Trump celebrated his birthday with a military parade in Washington, D.C., may prove to be just as enduring. 

To The Editor:

My friends who are Donald Trump supporters have been claiming that President Trump has kept all his promises, that’s why they still support him. 

Rep. Chuck Edwards wasted no time Saturday Morning reminding supporters that Republicans are back in full control of Washington — and that he intends to be at the forefront of the Trump agenda. 

Joining millions across the globe, thousands in Western North Carolina rallied this past weekend, demonstrating against the policies of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk while expressing grave concerns about the future of myriad federal programs and services. Their message? “We want people to know that we are not going anywhere.”

As an attorney, I have direct experience and the unique point of view that comes from working with the Social Security Administration daily and remain in awe at its ability to serve millions of Americans with a wide array of needs.

To the Editor:

Every so often, some politician will say something so arrogant and tone-deaf as to be compared to Marie Antoinette, the doomed queen who supposedly said of France’s starving peasants, “Then let them eat cake.”  

To the Editor:

I am a retired military officer (veteran); senior citizen; middle class; have grandchildren that are part of the LBGQ+ community; live in a rural area; have a grandchild still in school; and, I am a female.

To the Editor:

Is it really necessary to make getting Social Security benefits harder, if not impossible, for elderly and disabled beneficiaries? The Trump administration wants to force people to file Social Security claims in person — you won’t be able to do business on-line or on the phone any more. 

It had been a warm spring day that finally gave way to twilight of cobalt-grey, sharpening the flashing red and blue police lights slashing through dusk restless and unyielding. Demonstrators waving signs and banging rhythmically on locked glass doors, their chants pulsed through the cool evening air. 

“Save our democracy.”