Protecting democracy and Social Security against the Donald Trump MAGA cult destruction of government

Echo opinion letter published in the Seattle Times, Washington.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NewYork, Crown Heights) is correct in saying Americans are worried about losing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and about the “reckless and extreme budget” put forward by MAGA cult Republicans. He is wrong to say there is nothing more urgent than stopping those budget proposals.

Many of us are simultaneously worried about the U.S. democratic government falling into autocracy. 

Were it not for the president’s attempts to consolidate all power in his presidency, we would not be having discussions about such extreme budget proposals. Republicans in Congress would feel more accountable to the voters who elected them than beholden to President Donald Trump.

I receive surveys asking how important various issues are to me. Not one asks: How worried are you about a possible dictatorship in the U.S.❓ How important is upholding the Constitution to you❓How important is it that the government abides by duly adjudicated court rulings?

Kitchen-table issues are important to voters. Democracy must survive for us to even have those debates. It would be helpful if political leaders would point out that necessity if we want to save other things that matter to us and have a say in how we are governed.

From Christa Quackenbush, in Shoreline, Washington State