Family budgets are strained as US spends on war
A recent Washington Post–Ipsos poll found that many Americans now consider groceries unaffordable. That reality rings especially true for hard‑working Georgians who are stretching family budgets to absorb higher fuel costs, cutting back on summer vacation plans, and bracing for the price tag of school supplies for the coming year.
Against this backdrop, we learn that the United States has spent roughly $100 billion on the ongoing conflict with Iran. Every budget reflects a set of national values.
At a time when many Americans report difficulty affording groceries and many Georgians are confronting rising medical and prescription costs, cuts to WIC, persistent food insecurity and the closure of rural hospitals.
Considering these pressures, it would be prudent for policymakers to revisit the social contract they hold with the people they serve and to realign national spending priorities so that the costs of war do not eclipse the urgent social needs at home. Not doing so is a breach of trust.
PHILBERT SMITH, VILLA RICA
Trump’s election rant is threat to democracy
If Donald Trump were not the president of the United States, his speech last Thursday would be written off as the incoherent rantings of a wacky conspiracy theorist.
Trump said that China hacked into our election data to find out the names, addresses, voting patterns, etc. of voters. Does he really not know that this is all public information that everyone, including his campaign, can simply buy from each state?
It is also worth noting that he said that this alleged vote hacking and interference started in 2020. In 2020, our president was: Donald Trump. It is also worth noting that government reports show that the attempts to influence our elections were done on behalf of, you guessed it, Donald Trump.
Because Trump is president, his rantings are not funny. They are a threat to democracy.
LARRY AUERBACH, ATLANTA
Tuning out, president’s speech ‘just noise’
I want to be an informed citizen and voter, but I only have so many years to live. I tried to watch the president speak to the nation last week, and realized I’ve had enough! It’s not just what he says, which is bad enough; it’s how he says it. Politics has always had its ugly side, but the ever-present demonizing tone, say anything (true or not) culture is getting worse.
While I do not expect any POTUS to be a master of all presidential duties, I do look for the leader of the free world to be a sane, moral and prudent role model who chooses sane, moral, prudent and competent advisers. Our current president has failed at both.
Donald Trump won the election, and we must live with the consequences, good and bad. I can no longer listen to all the noise.
SKIP WEILAND, MARIETTA
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