Letters to the Editor, Jan. 26

Women are turning grief and fear into protest and action

I find it interesting that President Trump keeps talking about the U.S. media and identifying it as comparable to the Nazi media. And yet the Nazis used a method that Trump and his aides are using. They called it the “big lie.” The gist was that if you tell a lie often enough, it becomes the truth. For example, Kellyanne Conway and Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, are using what they call “alternative facts,” a term that Chuck Todd challenged, “Wait a minute. Alternative facts? Alternative facts? Four of the five facts Spicer uttered were just not true. Alternative facts are not facts; they’re falsehoods.” Why not simply call them “lies?”

DC’s metro saw nearly 100,000 more rides on Jan. 21, the day of the Women’s March, than for the day of Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Additionally, Todd suggested that Trump’s numbers didn’t come close to president Obama’s numbers for his first inauguration. About 1.8 million attended Obama’s first inauguration and approximately 250,000 attended president Trump’s inauguration. Many people comparing the two pictures of President Trump’s inauguration and the Women’s March state that the Women’s March was much larger. Worldwide the protest marches on Jan. 21 totaled more than 2 million people.

Kellyanne Conway asked why women were marching on Jan. 21. As someone who attended the Women’s March in Seattle that drew 130,000 people, I can tell her unequivocally that the march was a protest against the new president’s agenda and policies. People questioned Trump’s stance on reproductive rights, climate change, the Affordable Care Act, J. Edgar Comey, discrimination against Latinos, Muslims, women, LGBTQ people, African Americans and the disabled. My favorite sign was “Super callous, fascist, racist and extra braggadocious.” Women are turning grief and fear into protest and action and they maintain that they are not going away.

We must protect those in poverty

On Friday, President Obama’s term ended and Donald Trump was sworn in as president. One of the first agenda items Mr. Trump has demanded from Congress is a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, thus putting the health care of tens of millions of Americans at risk. As congressional leaders work to repeal the ACA, they are also considering radical changes to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which could undermine these programs’ effectiveness and force millions more deeper into poverty.

A transition in president should NOT be Congress’ signal to break their oath to promote the general welfare of the American people. Congress should protect programs that lift and keep people out of poverty, such as SNAP and Medicaid, and not replace the ACA without a strong plan in place.

Join me in contacting our members of Congress to protect those in poverty. Here are 3 reasons why:

▪ Income inequality has widened since the end of the Great Recession.

▪ Our safety net is working overtime to compensate for rising income inequality and the proliferation of low-wage work.

▪ High poverty rates among young children have long-term implications for our economic competitiveness.

Together we CAN make a difference.

This story was originally published January 27, 2017 at 9:45 AM with the headline "Letters to the Editor, Jan. 26."