Doris W. Draper is a resident of Houston.
Do you know where your tax dollars are going?
There’s golf trips for $90 million-plus; a trip to the Super Bowl for $20 million; a trip to the Ryder Cup for $17 million; opening a Scottish golf club for $11 million; a parade for $30 million; a visit to the U.S. Open for $8 million; banners to make Washington, D.C., look like North Korea for $16,000; gold-embossed vehicles for Immigration and Customs Enforcement for $2.45 million; two jets for Kristi Noem for $172 million; upgrading a plane for $943 million; detention centers for $4 billion; a “National Garden of American Heroes” (statues for Trump people) for $40 million; and $40 billion for Argentina.
Our treasury is not Donald Trump’s personal credit card.
The money being spent on detaining people would fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Since when did any president get a gift of $943 million from the American people?
The $40 million for the statues was included in the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
I don’t know about you, but Kobe Bryant, Julia Child and Alex Trebek are not heroes to me. Ira Hayes, John Kennedy, John McCain and our millions of veterans are the heroes.
Be aware that you are paying over $38 million a year for a House of Representatives that has not done its job since Sept. 19.
Are you aware that 70% of people in ICE custody have no criminal history? These are people who have been here 10, 20 and even 30 years. They are the people working on our farms, in packing plants and on dairy farms, putting food on your table. Many are also veterans of our military, who were promised a path to citizenship for their service. They are the ones building or repairing your homes after floods, hurricanes and tornadoes.
Yanking individuals out of their cars; knocking a blind, 4-foot-6-inch man down and banging his head on the concrete; kneeling on a man, breaking his ribs and causing internal bleeding; snatching parents and leaving their toddler in the car; deploying tear gas at schools and parades — these are the actions of ICE. Stop them now!
Everyone needs to read the quote by German Pastor Martin Niemöller: “First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then, they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then, they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then, they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.”
This administration has broken so many laws, including the Impoundment Control Act; the Posse Comitatus Act; and the Constitution’s Article 1, Section 8 and Article 1, Section 7 and Article 1, Section 9 (habeas corpus). It’s also violated amendments one, two, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 and 14, while Republicans sit on their thumbs.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
