Partisan politics first

Partisan politics first

The courage Republicans in Alabama have shown in standing up to radical and controversial far-right positions is absent in Anne Arundel County.

Here, instead, elected GOP officials support members of their own party who hold those positions. County Executive Steve Schuh and County Council member Michael Peroutka, both Republicans, have given financial and other types of support to Roy Moore in Alabama. Schuh has endorsed Peroutka's re-election bid despite Peroutka's well-known fringe beliefs.

Republican council members John Grasso, Jerry Walker and Derek Fink unanimously elected Peroutka as chairman of the council in a party-line vote. And then-council Chairman Grasso censored public testimony regarding Peroutka's beliefs and former affiliation with a hate group, an action that likely violated citizens' First Amendment rights.

It is time for Republican voters in Anne Arundel County to send the same message to our local elected officials that Alabamians had the courage to send to Roy Moore, by nominating and voting for responsible GOP candidates. Voters need to send the message that putting partisan party politics before country, tolerance and decency is a thing of the past.

Those who aid and abet others who promote hate and extremism must be kept from elected office. And if local Republicans are unable to do that in the primary elections, then responsible Republican, Democratic and Independent voters should do it collectively in the general election.

ALEX McCRARY

Annapolis

Entitlements targeted

So we'll get a tax bill that adds $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years. We'll build that wall that Mexico won't pay for that costs us another $1 trillion. And then we'll implement that amazing, humongous infrastructure program that costs another $1 trillion.

Where do you think all that $3.5 trillion is coming from?

Donald Trump says he'll never reduce Medicare, Social Security, health insurance and Medicaid - our "entitlement programs."

But that's where much of the $3.5 trillion has to come from to pay for all the programs Trump has promised. There's no more magic in balancing a federal budget than there is balancing our family budgets, except we have to balance ours and the government can simply borrow the money from the Chinese and let future generations pay it back.

Do rich people like Trump use Medicaid, as many poor people and nursing home patients do, to pay medical expenses? No, they can't qualify for it and they can afford to pay their own expenses on the backs of the 95 percent of the rest of the country who have their taxes automatically deducted from their paychecks.

Rich people don't have any paycheck for taxes to be deducted from. They own stocks, bonds, real estate, companies, corporations, art collections and hidden bank accounts.

They end up not paying any taxes because the new tax bill didn't eliminate any of the loopholes their accountants have always used to avoid taxes for the rich. The bill actually added more loopholes for the rich and their companies.

Where is Trump's 2017 tax return that proves he and his family won't be saving millions and millions of dollars in taxes? He claims the tax bill will actually hurt him. Do you believe that?

ROBERT A. WEBER

Davidsonville

Misplaced analysis

Regarding the news analysis by Aaron Blake of The Washington Post headlined "Mueller moves closer to Trump with Flynn plea" (The Sunday Capital, Dec. 3).

If I wanted to read the thoughts of the editors of The Washington Post, I would still be subscribing to The Washington Post. I canceled that subscription for a reason. Also, analysis pieces belong on the editorial page rather than the news pages.

How about some editorial oversight?

JOHN BALL

Tracys Landing

National debt

Now the Democrats are concerned about the national debt?

Over the past 10 years the national debt more than doubled to over $20 trillion!

RIC CAMPBELL

Severna Park