Dear editor:

As written in 1 Timothy 6:10, “for the love of money is the root of all evil.” Trumplicans have ended much financial, medical and nutritional support for the honest poor, the elderly and our children. They claim such cruelty is necessary so the 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy (mostly) can be repeated. Back then, they assured us that prosperity would come from trickle-down after-effects, but instead it added trillions to the national debt.

Without this repeated tax break, none of the agency closures and mass firings being done would be needed; the old 2016 tax rates would fund them. Adding insult to injury, Republicans have imposed more taxes on the middle and lower classes with tariffs. These may irritate the wealthy, but they cripple everyday workers and their families.

Furthermore, President Donald Trump seems unable to distinguish between “money” as an honest symbol for trading products and “money” as numbers on a spreadsheet. Trump bad-mouthed cryptocurrency a few years ago before moneyed owners gave funds to his campaign and explained how he, too, could get rich from what looks like a highly polished swindle or fraud. 

Trump has made millions from people buying his version of digital coins; but they are not coins. Cryptocurrency is just an app reflecting an agreement among its owners as to the worth of its tokens, like a video game score. Had Trump lost the 2024 election, the value of his digital “money” would have plummeted to zero. 

Instead, those seeking Trump’s favor give real money to his crypto company, thus gaining access and influence. I expect this will lead to laws allowing payment of taxes by crypto and requiring crypto acceptance when government pays its debts.

In this situation, six synonyms express what has happened: cryptocurrency, corruption, complicity, congress, criminal and cesspool.

Dennis Reuter

Powell