Robert H. Workman

Lock Haven

Let me begin with a Letter to the Editor by Arthur Keller in The Express, dated August 2, 2025.

Dear Sir. No, the sky is not falling. The Big Beautiful Bill “BBB” is not a BBB. Biggest tax breaks to the wealthy, of course.

But that is not the biggest problem facing our great country. No, it’s what none of you speak of.

1. Taking over all branches of government. Making them do his bidding, ignoring our laws and Constitution. This includes Congress, our federal judges and, of course, our Supreme Court.

2. Taking over our education system in order for them to teach his beliefs. Banning books, telling school systems what they can teach and if they don’t, trying to defund what Congress has allotted them. Depriving children of meals, hurting special needs children and putting a larger stress on the working families who are just making ends meet.

3. Medicaid is not being protected. Huge cuts that once again hurts the underprivileged, which a lot of them are elderly, disabled and children. And yes, there are those who are on Medicaid who shouldn’t be, but they account for very little of Medicaid’s budget.

4. Socialism; social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members.

5. Capitalism; This conviction puts socialism in opposition to capitalism, which is based on private ownership of the means of production and allows individual choices in a free market to determine how goods and services are distributed. Socialists complain that capitalism necessarily leads to unfair and exploitative concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of the relative few who emerge victorious from free-market competition–people who then use their wealth and power to reinforce their dominance in society. Because such people are rich, they may choose where and how to live, and their choices in turn limit the options of the poor. As a result, terms such as individual freedom and equality of opportunity may be meaningful for capitalists but can only ring hollow for working people, who must do the capitalists’ bidding if they are to survive. So Sir, we are a combination of both of these. Democrats and well as Republicans are neither one or the other, but both.

6. The most amusing and disturbing words were, I quote, “I want to live in a free America where individuality is allowed, where truth matters, where hate has no place, where honesty and integrity are revered and where God is our anchor.”

A. Truth: Trump lies continually about everything. That has been proven more times than I can count.

B. How can it be a free country when he and religious fanatics try to change history and remove things about our history that don’t fit into their mold. As a gay man, I’m prosecuted from day one because of who I am and he and people like you are trying to erase us and not let “us” to be who we truthfully are. My mother was Mormon and I was raised as such. But as she told me, “you’re my son and I love you no matter what.” That is what I was taught. God loves all of us and only he can judge us. People speak like they’re Christians but sure don’t act like Christians.

C. Hate; Trump spews hate constantly about people and countries leaders. Didn’t you see how he treated presidents of some of these countries at the White House? He’s vindictive and goes after anyone who he thinks is against him. He likes you one minute, as long as your agreeing with him, then if you say something he doesn’t like, you’re the most horrible person in the world. He sues news stations and papers because they said something he didn’t like. They pay because it’s easier and cheaper to just settle. He wants to control what they print or report.

D. He is hiding something about the Epstein files in order to protect himself and/or wealthy benefactors to him and his campaigns. But I can bet you he’ll release the information on those he doesn’t like. If you can’t help him, you’re no good to him. One day, those who support him and have helped him to take complete control of the country, will find out. They’ll be gone and only then will they realize they, as you and others, have been used by him to get what he wants. No matter the cost to the average American and this great country, which I fear is being lost.

So Sir. Let’s get past what you see as good about this man to seeing what harm he is actually doing to the country.

Yes, deporting aliens, but in what manner? Even those who are legally going through the channels of our system, he nails them at their hearings. No regard for the children or those trying to do what is right.

As you said, yes, there have been a lot of attacks on him and his family. What did you say about when he attacked — and still attacks — Obama, Biden and the Clintons? He said some really horrible things, even about the children of Obama and Biden’s son.

He pardons the worst criminals because they give him money. Our country is for sale. He accepts a luxury plane, which under all other circumstances and presidencies, would not have been allowed.

If it had been Biden or any other Democrat president, would you have stayed silent? Wasting billions on refitting it, all the while two other Air Force One planes are being built. Spending millions to house aliens in other countries…turning the White House into a palace…

Yes, supposedly spending his own money and others’ donations, but I am skeptical about that. But, of course, he has doubled his wealth since getting into office. Have you?

He promised to lower prices and end the war in Ukraine. Yet we suffer with higher prices, thanks to his tariffs, and the war is still raging on. He lied then and continues to lie now.

This presidency will go down in history as the worst thing to have happened to this country. And to all those who abetted in allowing it to happen: well, you figure it out.