Money, money, money

360

Editor,    

If you are worried about tax time and how you will come up with the money, consider this: the 2019 U.S. budget for the military is almost $1 trillion! Since we all must pay taxes (except the President?) or face jail time, we should contemplate what our government’s values are.

I quote a Republican: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

“We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge military and industrial machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

“… The prospect of domination… by the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.”

This was written by the general who helped win WWII, Dwight Eisenhower, who gave us this warning in his 1961 Farewell Speech as President of the U.S.

President Trump continues to dismantle our democratic processes by lining his pockets, appointing other corrupt cabinet members and giving obscene power to his colluding relatives: The power of money is the shadow of corruption.

T.A. Laughlin