Letter: The real waste and fraud in Washington

Elon Musk claimed his job was to eliminate waste and fraud. He and a bunch of 19- to 26-year-olds have ordered mass firings in departments they know nothing about. If someone points out that those fired were really needed, such as people taking care of our nuclear weapons, they say oops then try to cancel their actions. They cut off money for foreign aid which the Secretary of State had to restore.

Letter: AARP warns of the real threat to Social Security

The AARP told its members that it is “hearing from thousands of older Americans confused and concerned about their Social Security payments, the status of Social Security field offices, and inexcusably long wait times on the phone to get their questions answered.” It also reminds its 38 million members, “Every working American earns Social Security. And after an entire lifetime of hard work, it’s your money.” It’s not the government’s money. And especially not Elon Musk’s and President Trump’s money. The Trump/Musk administration is cutting 12 % of Social Security’s work force, making it more and more inefficient, so that in time, people will give up on it. The end game is to privatize Social Security. Ever since Social Security came into being under FDR’s administration, a segment of the super-rich has been trying to kill it off. Now it appears to have been given a death sentence by thousands of cuts to its infrastructure. That’s why the AARP is asking it members speak up. Nearly 70 million of us get Social Security benefits – and another 30 million Americans are over 55. The vast majority worked hard to receive their benefits in our retirement years — and we vote. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, let’s start calling, going to Congressional offices, emailing, protesting and demanding that everyone in government remember that Social Security belongs to us. We are not about to let a bunch of greedy billionaires take it away.

Letter: State budget in era of DOGE

At a time when federal government is being DOGE’d, the responsibility for ensuring that America continues to be a prosperous land of opportunity is being transferred from the federal government to states. This transition is something that conservatives have been advocating for for decades, and now, for better or worse, it is coming to pass. State government has an awesome responsibility to step in where the federal government has stepped back, and we must ensure that New Hampshire remains an amazing place to work, to raise a family, to go to school and to be part of a healthy and vibrant community. Unfortunately, in many respects this awesome responsibility and new reality is not reflected in the Republican budget bill. Rather than step up where the federal government has stepped back, this budget proposes many of the same kinds of short-term cost cutting measures that will have long term impacts to our state. While New Hampshire remains, for now, one of the wealthiest states in the country, that status cannot long endure unless we truly invest in our public education system (including the University system), health care (including mental health care), workforce housing, childcare, transportation, our environment and energy infrastructure. I urge all members of the House and Senate to consider the totality of our social and economic environment and to recognize that cuts to vital services will have real and immediately deleterious impacts on New Hampshire residents, families, small businesses, towns and cities.

Letter: Measles outbreak

School vouchers vs. the liberties guaranteed by the state Constitution

Article 6 of the New Hampshire Bill of Rights states: “No person shall ever be compelled to pay towards the support of the schools of any sect or denomination.” Forcing New Hampshire taxpayers to financially support religious education through voucher programs is a violation of our constitutionally guaranteed liberties. This should be sufficient reason for our New Hampshire lawmakers to reject any voucher program that allows even a dollar of public money to go toward religious education. Sadly, New Hampshire lawmakers are more focused on gutting and privatizing our state’s public education system than on upholding the rights of their constituents. Shame on anyone who supports HB 748 or any other program that funnels public, taxpayer funds to religious schools.

Letter: Abandonment of Ukraine

As Donald Trump proceeds down a path to abandon Ukraine, I am reminded of the words of President John F. Kennedy spoken to a very young teenager in his 1961 Inaugural Address. “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

Letter: A chance to save our schools

On March 23, the governor and council have an opportunity to save public education and potentially reduce our property tax burden by refusing to reappoint Frank Edelblut as commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of (Public) Education. Here is what I sent to the governor and council members: “Dear Gov. Ayotte and council members, I urge you not to reappoint Commissioner Edelblut as the head of the New Hampshire Department of Education. During his tenure, he has done more to destroy public education than any previous commissioners. He has let his personal religion and disdain for public education beliefs cripple our excellent system of education for New Hampshire’s children. In addition, he has continued to re-write history and frighten hard working and dedicated teachers with his “Freedom” legislation and robbed the Educational Trust Fund to give wealthy households access to vouchers originally earmarked to assist low-income parents to pay for their children desiring to go to a different school. Masses of data show that not only is the original intent a failure but it has also further moved the cost of educational services onto towns. As recent school board meetings throughout the state have shown, the public is both angry and aware of the pain he has caused and correctly point the finger at the state for our huge increases in property taxes. Edelblut’s reappointment would show everyone that our state is anti-public education. Please appoint someone who believes in public education, the foundation of our democracy.”

Letter: Is this the way our government works?

Letter: Don’t let doctors pump grandma with the blue juice

Letter: Trump’s concessions to tyranny

The U.S. president’s treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Feb. 28 was appalling. After three years of courageously leading the Ukrainian people through a brutal war against Putin’s neo-imperial Russia, Zelensky endured an outrageous lecture on the importance of peace from a president who openly favors the Kremlin. The “leader of the free world” raised his voice at Zelensky and chastised him for “hating” Putin after the Russian despot invaded Ukraine in a war that has killed over 100,000 Ukrainians.

Letter: An easy fix

Letter: Stupid reasoning

The ‘DOGE king’ stating that if a government worker doesn’t answer his emails that means they’re not working? To me that means just the opposite. I worked for the state of New Hampshire for 25 years, primarily working at a computer. If my bosses had come by my desk and seen me browsing emails I would have been seen as not doing the work I was supposed to be doing.

Letter: Hatred seen in defiant gestures

Again, in the Monitor, we are reading about a vigilante group who wants to harass a transgender child at a school sports event. They are calling it “freedom of speech” but this demonstration belongs on the State House steps, not on a school playground. Do these people have no compassion for a minority group who just want to be part of what every child deserves in their school experience. To those in power: Be strong in your resistance to bigotry and bullying.

Letter: Gov. Ayotte misleading us as she spends money

Letter: Great news

First, I want to congratulate all of the citizenry who voted Donald Trump into office for a second term (or third and fourth?).

Opinion: With Medical Aid in Dying vote, lawmakers should recognize control over your final days is a gift

By MITCHELL SIMON

Mitchell Simon is a professor emeritus at UNH Law. He lives in Contoocook. 

Opinion: Safeguarding local control in New Hampshire is essential

By ELEANA COLBY

Eleana Colby represents Merrimack District 9, which includes Bow and Hopkinton, in the New Hampshire legislature. 

Opinion: Maternity deserts in rural New Hampshire are a growing crisis. The time to act is now.

By MACKENZIE NICHOLSON

MacKenzie Nicholson is the Senior Director at Moms Rising New Hampshire and a contributing writer for the NH Health Cost Initiative.

Opinion: A tribute to Shady

By JONATHAN P. BAIRD

Jonathan P. Baird lives in Wilmot.

Opinion: New Hampshire cannot afford universal EFAs

By PATTY LONG

Patty Long is a retired public school teacher living in Peterborough.