Private profiteers are gutting public services
Brooklyn: Before he even took office, President Trump abandoned his campaign promise to lower the price of eggs on day one.
It was bad enough that he shrugged off that commitment, which was the top priority of the people who voted for him (“It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard”), but then he actively made the situation worse by allowing Elon Musk to gut the USDA (among many other federal agencies) to the point where the administration is now scrambling (no pun intended) to rehire the team tasked with fighting bird flu, the primary cause of wildly inflated egg prices.
Musk’s “fire people first, find out what they actually did for the country later” approach has already proven disastrous in instances such as this and the slashing of funding to help 9/11 responders — yet he gleefully poses with a chainsaw to celebrate the slashing of thousands of dedicated civil servants and the important work they did for their fellow citizens.
I accept that Trump won the election, but whether or not you voted for him, you should not accept the fact that our government is being dismantled by an unelected, non-citizen uber-billionaire. This man doesn’t care about 9/11 responders. He cares exclusively about his companies’ profits and is A-OK with going scorched-earth on our country to line his pockets. Katherine Raymond
Forgotten heroes
Brooklyn: As someone who is related to several people who were down at or near Ground Zero after 9/11, I feel that cutting the WTC Health Program is not a good thing. The motto was “We will never forget,” but have some people forgotten? The area smoldered in toxic fumes, and the terrible aftermath for families must never be forgotten. I understand the need to audit certain aspects of government, but when we see families burying members who were at or near Ground Zero, I say enough is enough. Yes, there should be some agencies looked at for misuse of funds. Yet, aid for 9/11 first responders should be helped, not hindered. Sharon Cesario
A sacred debt
Brooklyn: Overzealous action is not good for the country. Since the horror of 9/11, I’ve always said to myself that I want my tax money to go to assisting the injured and the sick throughout their lives. It’s one of the few things my tax money is used for that I feel is sacred and necessary. Please do not cut this off for any reason. All of these people are veterans — the responders, the fleeing workers, the neighborhood civilians, etc. Care for them, please. Thank you, federal government, for being wise. Dianne Stillman
Unsubstantiated claims
Brooklyn: To Voicer Howard Jay Meyer: No one I know of is against rooting out fraud and waste, and to suggest that anyone criticizing the current efforts to uncover and address it is wrong is disingenuous at best. The problem I and many others have is that there is no proof of these claims. What and where are all these misused funds? Why is personal identifying information needed to accomplish DOGE goals? When was the audit? Neither Musk nor Trump nor the Republican-controlled Congress have published any information supporting their contentions of widespread fraud and abuse. How are we supposed to confirm their claims? Until such proof is provided and corroborated, I will continue to believe that this cost-cutting is merely a way to make funds available on paper for a tax cut that we can’t afford. After all, last I heard, we are broke. Wanda Peakes
He said what?
Scranton, Pa.: Steve Bannon called Musk a “parasitic illegal immigrant.” I want to believe I heard it but I almost can’t. When sensible statements emanate from Bannon’s lips, it may signal the beginning of the apocalypse. Vin Morabito
Absentee prez
Highland Falls, N.Y.: Must be nice to have Musk doing your job as president. So Trump gets to wander the halls of the White House with his phone, sucking up to Vladimir Putin while dreaming of Trump Tower Moscow, repeating Russian lies about Ukraine while sounding like a child talking about “the big beautiful ocean” that missiles can travel over in minutes. He also has time to interfere with the internal governing of New York, something you would think most presidents would be too busy to do, but not Trump. He just better hope Elon doesn’t get bored of firing Americans and starving Third World children or he might have to find his way back to the Oval Office. God help us all if that happens. Joe Cyr
Some good, some bad
Brooklyn: We certainly live in interesting times. Give the devil his due. Trump has shut down the border and addressed the national debt and deficit by cutting out waste. On the other hand, pardoning the Jan. 6 insurrectionists was a disgrace, and blackmailing Mayor Adams was wrong. His tweeting “Long live the king” was a whopper of a remark. Blaming Volodymyr Zelenskyy for starting the war and being a dictator was pathetic and shows how Trump sides with Putin, always aspiring to being a dictator and king. Don Adler
Same face
Auburndale: Am I the only one who thinks Kash Patel is the spitting image of the sycophantic Grant (Ravi Patel) on “American Housewife”? Cathi Venis
Misplaced accusation
Bayside: To Voicer Sid Sussman: You are totally wrong about Israel. How can you say they perform genocide after a 9-month-old baby and his family, the Bibases, were kidnapped and returned dead by Hamas? That’s genocide by Hamas. They killed many kids while their friends watched, who needed therapy to put their lives back together. How could you make these comments!? Michael Sternbach
Prisoners indeed
Manhattan: To Voicer Richie Nagan: There were no Palestinian hostages held. They were prisoners who, for whatever reason, obviously deserved to be jailed. What Israel should do is “an eye for an eye” — one hostage, one prisoner. And you know Hamas and the Palestinians would never agree to that, as they want to replenish their troops. Toby Lerner
Mercy for mothers
Rochdale Village: To poor, addled Voicer Wanda Lucci: No, dear, the act of mercy for the 10-year-old raped and impregnated by her father is a first-trimester sucking out of the few embryonic cells. And the woman bleeding out in the hospital’s parking lot in the red state, forced to carry a dead or misshapen and brain-dead fetus, is a merciful abortion to save the mother’s life. There’s a commandment against incest. And what kind of religious fanatic puts the unborn fetus over the mother’s life? The Bible says it is not alive until the newborn takes its first breath. Saul Rothenberg
Never funny
Barnegat, N.J .: I agree 2,000% with Alan Dershowitz and his opinion of “SNL” and just about all of its comedians and skits (“50 years of ‘SNL’ is just not funny,” op-ed, Feb. 20). “SNL” is completely overrated and just not funny. When it first came on the air, I couldn’t fathom what was so funny. I don’t think I have ever seen the show in its entirety. I feel that it was only funny to the show’s focused audience — people in their 20s and 30s who were usually high on pot, alcohol or both. They were brought up on very mediocre entertainment. Comedians and hosts like Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Robin Williams, George Carlin, Jonathan Winters, Joan Rivers, Rodney Dangerfield and so many others are head and shoulders above the “SNL” crew. The current generation and the one before it truly don’t know what’s funny. Thomas Thompson
Let’s hear them
East Elmhurst: I agree with Voicers Charlene Black and Lynn Fodor: Let’s print more of the young people’s opinions. They enlighten us. Gerson Fernandes
Failing service
Manhattan: I am a sickly senior with ailments and I’m without cable TV and my landline. I’m paying top dollar, nothing to sneeze at. I feel like leaving Spectrum for Verizon due to Spectrum’s disgusting service. There needs to be an investigation. Helen Murphy
