Trump and Musk are responsible for countless deaths
Editor: A Dec. 24 article describes the failures of Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to root out fraud in the U.S. government (“Drama in cuts but little savings”). What DOGE really accomplished was the firing of the people who make government work. It took a wrecking ball to valuable agencies and dismissed highly qualified scientists and others who worked for the U.S. government.
Nothing was mentioned of the hundreds of thousands of deaths that DOGE caused by closing the U.S. Agency for International Development. They gleefully described ending food and health programs that millions of people around the world relied on for their survival. As time passes the death toll will climb into the millions from the closure of U.S.-sponsored food kitchens, health clinics and humanitarian supplies. How many are dead? We’ll never know because they also canceled funding for organizations that counted the dead.
We must never allow Donald Trump, Musk and DOGE to forget that they are directly responsible for millions of preventable human deaths. Millions.
— Hans Beerbaum, Petaluma
County must secure opioid settlement funds
Editor: Ernesto Olivares argues that Buckelew Programs isn’t like DEMA, so county protections are not needed for opioid settlement money (“Breaking addiction’s cycle worth a little risk,” Close to Home, Dec. 28).
Unfortunately, good programs can and do fail, especially when management and boards fail to deal with financial issues in a timely fashion.
Nonprofit boards are usually local citizens with good intentions, but they often lack financial expertise and the willingness to pursue difficult issues. Social Advocates for Youth, the Palm Drive Hospital District and Health Plan of the Redwoods would be local examples. There are many private companies with similar stories.
Imagine that the board had dealt with SAY’s issues much earlier, leaving the physical facility free to be used by another service organization.
The answer isn’t in a “no-sale” clause or the agency’s free use of capital assets. The answer is a first trust deed for the capital amounts to be protected. That deed should be held by the county. Thus, only the $3.8 million of taxpayer money is restricted. Any additional equity remains available to the operators.
Should Buckelew experience financial difficulties, the management and board will have to respond sooner. And should Buckelew fail, the county’s investment will be protected. In such a case, the county will have either the physical asset or the original cash to try another approach.
— Mike Von der Porten, Santa Rosa
American institutions will outlast Trump
Editor: Gayle Kozlowski claims that President Donald Trump kept his campaign promises (“If you don’t like Trump’s America, you can leave,” Letters, Dec. 30). Really? He claimed he would lower inflation, but prices continue to rise. He promised to end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. The war in Gaza goes on, and all he has done in Ukraine is to imitate Neville Chamberlain (remember how that worked out?). He promised to lower prices, but his tariffs have had the opposite effect. The only promise he has kept is to use brownshirt tactics to forcibly remove immigrants who do the grunt work that none of us want to do. The effects are beginning to be felt, and they will get worse (higher labor costs, higher home prices, etc.). All of which is ignored by the MAGA mob, who care only about the free entertainment provided by Trump. As for her “love it or leave it” cliche, our institutions will outlast Trump, and so will I.
— Craig Catelani, Santa Rosa
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