Dear Editor,

When the airplane and helicopter collided near Reagan International Airport awhile back, Trump blamed DEI for the tragedy. When asked what evidence he had for this assertion, he said it was just “common sense.” Common Sense goes back to the pamphlet that Thomas Paine wrote in 1776, which argued that the colonies needed to gain independence from England and create a democratic republic. 

We see today a rejection of that very democratic model that our ancestors fought for in many wars going back to the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, and WW I and WWII. Winston Churchill’s famous quote is insightful. “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”

But let us ask a more fundamental question. Is it common sense to collapse multiple federal agencies which have as their mission to serve the American public, for example to collapse the EPA when we are in the midst of a climate crisis fueled by our reliance on fossil fuels?   

Is it common sense to take the US out of the Paris Accords which created a global alliance to fight this climate crisis when the last 10 years are the ten hottest in the past several hundred? Is it common sense to take back all the Biden initiatives that helped the US move to renewable energy, and instead “Drill, baby, drill”? Globally we just went over the Paris goal of 1.5-degree Celsius, and it’s likely to rise.  

Does it make any sense to take the US out of the World Health Organization which tracks and organizes aid against multiple outbreaks of dangerous diseases? Is it sensible to dismantle USAID, which for only half of one percent of the budget, delivers food and clean water to the impoverished and offers HIV prevention services in high-risk areas while spreading good will for the US?  

Is it common sense to fire thousands of workers at the IRS when we are in tax season, and the people being helped by this collapse are the ultra-rich who want to avoid tax audits? I would point out that Elon Musk’s Tesla paid zero federal income taxes in 2024 while earning $2.3 billion.  

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, at least 55 of the largest corporations in America paid no federal corporate income taxes in 2024. In 2020, these 55 companies made $40.5 billion in US pretax income. If the standard 21% tax rate would apply, these companies would have paid $8.5 billion. Instead they received $3.5 billion in tax rebates.   If this is truly about waste, fraud or abuse, then every dollar spent in tax auditing returns $10 to the treasury.  

Is it common sense to prosecute individuals who are exercising their First Amendment right to free speech, such as those protesting Israel’s indiscriminate civilian bombing and destruction of the Gaza Strip and expansion of settlements in the West Bank, killing at least 50,000 Palestinians, claiming that these protests are somehow anti-Semitic, instead of anti-cruelty?  

Is it common sense to state publicly as Trump has done, that media outlets who don’t cover him positively are “corrupt” and should be deemed illegal and yet continually lie and get amplified by right wing news? Free speech was the Republican justification for the disastrous “Citizens United” case which opened the floodgates to massive dark money in campaigns and drowned out other voices. 

Is it common sense to dismantle the Voice of America, claiming it is too radical, which only helps Putin and Russia? Is it common sense to claim that the Justice Department has been weaponized against Trump yet turn around and use the same DOJ to threaten prosecution of Trump’s opponents?  

A short list of those that Trump has promised “retribution” according to Mother Jones are Joe Biden, Alvin Bragg (Manhattan District Attorney), Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Michael Cohen (his former attorney and “fixer”), James Comey (his former Attorney General), Mark Milley (former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who called Trump a “wannabe dictator”), Adam Schiff  and Liz Cheney for participation on the Jan 6 House Select committee investigating Trump’s role in the assault on the Capitol.  

The examples of his lawlessness are so many, yet his acolytes continue to pretend that he is a victim of this “weaponized” DOJ.  Let us remind you that he was impeached twice for cause, convicted of sexual abuse, accused of sexual assault by over 20 women, convicted of 34 felonies for lying and fraud, 97 times took the Fifth Amendment in testifying, declared bankruptcy six times, got five draft deferments for bone spurs (BS), had two of his companies convicted of fraud, had his charity shut down, his university shut down, $93 million in sexual abuse judgements, $400 million in fraud judgments, 64 times mentioned in the final Epstein report.  The list goes on. Does integrity matter? 

Is it common sense to fire all the Inspectors General whose job it is to ferret out “waste, fraud and abuse” while his cabinet is filled with billionaires who have possible conflicts of interest? Musk has probably the most conflicts of interest, with his many billions of dollars in government contracts, yet he is unchecked in destroying agencies created and funded by Congress. 

Is it common sense to collapse the agency that was tracking the war crimes of the Putin regime including the kidnapping of over 30,000 Ukrainian children, and purging the data bases that tracked these youngsters? Guess who that helps. 

Is it common sense to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which exists solely to help Americans recover money from predatory financial institutions that have defrauded them? 

Is it common sense to cut $880 billion from Medicaid, and $230 billion from food stamps, and start multiple trade wars, to slash 80,000 employees from the VA and fire veterans by the thousands… (thank you for your service rings hollow when you’re on unemployment). There are many more on the chopping block. 

What is the justification for this onslaught? Tax cuts? Maybe the rich should pay their share. 

The list goes on. Will the Republican Congress reclaim their role as co-equal branch of government and support the agencies they created and funded, or will they run away, afraid to be “primaried” by some right-wing millionaire? Where is their “common sense” … or their spine?

Bill Thibedeau

Gilpin County