Dear Editor:

In response to Ms. Martha Morrissy’s letter to the editor giving President Trump an A+, I have to disagree with her generous grading scale.

In regard to the federal deficit, in their first year in office, an incoming President inherits his predecessor’s budget. President Obama inherited a $1.4 trillion dollar deficit. Despite the worse economic downturn, Obama left office with a $486 billion deficit.

President Trump has since added $2 trillion, even though he proclaimed to eliminate the debt.

Ms. Morrissy’s statement that President Obama approved the Iraq War is false. Obama was not a US Senator in 2002 and couldn’t have voted for the Iraq War Resolution. In fact, he was at an anti-war rally in Chicago at the time. Osama bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011 under the Obama administration.

Ms. Morrissy’s statement that Obama handed over $150 billion to Iran is true. President Obama returned $150 billion of Iran’s own frozen assets. The United States and her allies put economic sanctions on Iran, the first sanctions in the year 1979. All monies owned for oil transactions to Iran by those nations halted. In 2015, as part of the Iran Nuclear Deal, those sanctions were lifted and Iran’s frozen assets returned.

Now, under the Trump administration, the United States backed out of that Iran deal, leaving a nuclear threat, as well as North Korea despite attempted talks. North Korea is still launching short range missiles.

In addition, any monies allocated for a wall should definitely go to our veterans. White supremacist terrorist groups pose a more serious threat to our country.

President Trump peddling anti-Semitic tropes and calling himself the “chosen one” would definitely be grounds for removal from any CEO position he held, let alone receive a passing grade.

As far as obstructionisms, that title goes to the Senate. While the House of Representatives has passed over 100 bills, the “Grim Reaper McConnell” has not brought a bill to the floor.

In addition, why is Ms. Morrissy still referencing the past administration, just as the current President does, who instead should be focused our country’s current economic situation in addition to mass shootings by white wupremacist and nuclear threats?

Joanne Gallo
Downey

Dear Editor:

I would like to respond to Martha Morrissy’s letter printed in the 8/23 issue:

1. National debt - Trump vs. Obama: Yes, Obama increased the national debt, but most of that was the result of efforts to avoid plunging the economy into a depression. The money spent kept the economy alive. Trump has increased the debt by reducing taxes, more than 80% of which benefit the rich, and have done nothing to improve the economy.

2. Trump signed a spending bill to avoid another government shutdown: And yet he had no problem shutting down the government, and even bragged about it, in order to get money for his border wall that congress did not want to appropriate.

3. The Middle East war has been a mess, true. But Ms. Morrissy’s characterization that “we should have gone into Afghanistan, destroyed the Al-Qaeda training camps, apprehended Osama Bin Laden, and gotten the hell out,” demonstrates a naivete and over-simplification of the problem.

Solving the Middle East problem is far more complex than simply removing a nest of insects from one’s house. And if Trump is trying so hard to ensure peace, why did he make John Bolten, one of the fiercest hawks in the country, his national security advisor?

4. On North Korea, Trump has done nothing but cozy up to Chairman Kim, stage some photo ops, and declare his love for the dictator. North Korea has done nothing to dismantle its nuclear program, while Trump has stopped military exercises with South Korea while getting nothing in return. Is this “trying his best”?

5. The $150 million that the Obama administration returned to Iran (it was their money to begin with, and had been held as a sanction) was in return for Iran’s agreement to stop its nuclear weapons program, which, according to international inspectors, they had done. Trump decided this wasn’t good enough, cancelled the treaty, and has tried to add more sanctions.

6. Regarding the “squad” insulting Trump, how many people has Trump insulted because they don’t agree with him? The “insulter-in-chief” has brought meaningful dialogue to an unprecedented low, and yet complains when other politicians are “mean” to him.

7. Regarding the “do-nothing” House of Representatives. The House has passed a number of bills, but it is the “do-nothing” Senate, led by Republican Mitch McConnell, that will not even allow these bills to be discussed or voted upon.

Ms. Morrissy is clearly a Trump supporter and is entitled to her opinions, but I don’t believe the facts are on her side.

Arnold Richards
Downey