Constitution
Every American should read the U.S. Constitution, especially the articles describing the powers of the president, Congress and the Supreme Court. For example Article II Section 1 of the Constitution requires that in order to be president, a person must swear an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. It doesn’t matter if President Donald Trump didn’t put his hand on the Bible. The oath is required “before he enter on the execution of his office.”
Also, Article I Section 8 states the Congress, not the president, has the power “to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts” and borrow money. This would include tariffs. Nowhere in the Constitution is the president given the power to levy taxes to pay debts or borrow money, and “no money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in Consequence of Appropriations made by law.” In short, only the Congress, which is the House and Senate, controls the purse, not the president.
If all Americans read the Constitution, they would see how far Trump has assumed powers the Constitution gives to Congress and distorted the separation of powers our Founders instituted to assure our freedoms and “form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility … promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”
Al Riutort, Newport News
Republican Party
What has happened to the Republican Party? The party of presidents Abraham Lincoln, William Taft, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and U.S. Sen. John McCain? The party of principle, of small government, balanced budgets and strong national defense? The party I once voted for?
Today’s perverted Republican Party is cravenly supporting an aging and increasingly incoherent President Donald Trump as he becomes America’s first dictator. He and his incompetent minions have corrupted the national government. He is sending masked agents and troops into American cities, harrying his political foes in the courts, and attempting to force government control into every center of American life — universities, cities, financial centers and media. He routinely violates the Constitution without restraint from a compliant Congress and Supreme Court. He is threatening to turn the American military against the “enemy within.” Overseas, he has trashed our alliances and turned the United States into an international laughingstock.
Real Republicans must not be captured by his shiny baubles called DEI or LGBTQ. They are only distractions. The real issue is the future of our country. If in the future we still have free and fair elections — a big “if” — everyone must vote as if democracy itself is at stake — because it is.
Bob Killebrew, Newport News
Cruel
Throughout history, the names of national leaders have been assigned epithets that described their personalities or administrations. Ivan the Terrible, Vlad the Impaler, Ethelred the Unready and Peter the Great are prime examples of this. Now we have President Donald Trump.
Trump has affected this country in a negative fashion like no other president in history. He disbanded the U.S. Agency for International Development, allowing food to rot rather than distribute it to starving people. He removed SNAP benefits from millions of Americans. He sent masked and armed ICE agents to knock down doors and pull people from their homes. He deported undocumented immigrants without due process. He fired thousands of career government employees without cause including scientists from the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has canceled vital projects that would benefit citizens from states that voted against him. He seeks to cancel programs that would improve the air that we breathe. He plans to send armed troops to patrol cities that he does not like and he seeks harsh retribution against his perceived enemies.
The proper epithet for Trump should be Donald the Cruel. There could be others like Donald the Dense or Donald the Liar, but I think cruel is more appropriate.
Arthur H. Jennette, Williamsburg
