Historic GOP agenda carried out by Trump

Clearly, what Trump and the current crop of congressional Republicans are pushing is what Republicans have been pushing for 100 years: The privatizing of our government and increased profits for the 1%. For those unaware, which American political party brought middle class Americans the following? The eight-hour work day, the 40-hour work week, overtime compensation, paid holidays/vacation, sick leave, child labor laws, Medicare, Social Security, unions, unemployment benefits and more.

If you guessed the Democratic Party you would be correct! In 1925, Republican President Calvin Coolidge famously proclaimed, “The business of America is business.” No doubt, our capitalist society has worked well for most Americans; however, governmental intervention improved the lot of millions of middle-class Americans via these programs that we all contributed to, on behalf of society.

Trump and his cronies are simply amplifying what Republicans have advocated for decades: Business will elevate all boats whereas Democrats believe the role of government is to support our citizenry.

Preserve Social Security, Medicare, and the United States Postal Service!

— Will C. Guilford, Santa Cruz

No worries, plenty of US billionaires in 20th century

A letter writer on Thursday stated that “In 1980 there were no billionaires in the U.S.”

This ignores the pernicious effects of inflation. During Biden’s term, the value of everyone’s savings declined by at least 20%.

Accounting for inflation, some estimates place John D. Rockefeller’s net worth in today’s dollars at close to $400 billion, exceeding that of anyone today.

Henry Ford was worth over $200 billion. There are plenty of other early 20th-century billionaires you can find with a little searching.

— Tom Pennello, Santa Cruz

SAVE Act threatens voting rights for eligible voters

Our democracy works best when every eligible voter, regardless of background, can make their voice heard. But the extreme SAVE Act threatens that right by imposing unnecessary and burdensome proof-of-citizenship requirements, making it significantly harder for millions of Americans to register and vote.

This bill would force every voter to present proof of citizenship, primarily through a passport or an original birth certificate, documents many Americans don’t readily have, every time they register or update their registration — in person. That means ourselves, our loved ones, and our neighbors could face insurmountable barriers: the bill creates particular problems for military service members, tribal citizens, married women, naturalized citizens, rural voters and seniors.

The SAVE Act is a solution in search of a problem. It’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and election officials already verify voter eligibility using secure state and federal data. This bill does nothing to improve election security, it only makes voting harder for law-abiding citizens.

Instead of erecting new barriers, we should be working to make voting more accessible for all eligible Americans.

— Margaret Wessels, Aptos

Signal-gate puts Hillary’s email issue to shame

The latest news: our Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth included an editor at The Atlantic magazine on top secret text messages involving war plans.

Sort of puts Hillary’s use of a private email server while secretary of state to shame, doesn’t it? Do we start chants of “Lock Pete Up”?

My only explanation is maybe Hegseth, said to have abused alcohol in the past, was drunk at the time?

But as we know already about the Trump administration, accountability goes out the window: blame others for problems and mistakes — such as in this case where they initially blamed the editor for the text they sent — but never take responsibility when things go wrong.

Actually, compared to the last time around with Trump, aren’t we overdue for a firing of one of his hand-picked cabinet members?

— Phil Hormel, Scotts Valley

Enjoyed Kessler column on renaming local landmarks

So that river at the south edge of Santa Cruz County is now “Bird Flu-over the river”? Keep ‘em coming Stephen Kessler! You’re one of the few that can still evoke a belly laugh.

— Kent Madsen, Santa Cruz