Since we are being treated daily to Donald Trump’s announcements about his meteoric rise in the polls (by now quite questionable as to the sources) we should be asking him how he intends to implement his promises.
The more he expresses anger about the unfulfilled needs that have not been met by our president and our Congress, the more we should be pressing him for more detailed solutions.
Among his pronouncements is the weakness of our military.
Now he must be challenged to tell us about the scandalous amount of mismanagement and fraud and waste at the Pentagon.
Before he goes on with plans to make us safer, does he have the courage to promise to look into the fact that the Pentagon has lost track of $8.5 trillion?
As he proclaims almost daily that he is a financial genius, and that our national debt is out of control, where is some mention of the fact that a sum equal to 1/2 of the debt cannot be accounted for?
And we have to repeat that the GOP cannot explain why there is not enough money for food stamps, that there is not enough money for body cameras for all the cops, that we cannot find the money to fully implement Obamacare or to make college affordable.
Anybody who talks about government waste or big government has to justify their inability to fund social and infrastructure programs. It is quite possible that all the waste could have paid for real needs.
Unfortunately, neither the critics in government, nor the media, have found the courage to talk in depth and constantly about where the drain on our budget lies.
How many years ago did President Eisenhower, one of our greatest generals, have the vision to warn us of the power of the military/industrial complex?
And does anyone perceive a link between the misguided influence of those who would lead us into more wars and continue to justify past misadventures? (I’ll give you a hint: A former V.P.)
Esther Confino
New Hyde Park
