Linda Terwilliger: Trump and his loyalists creating a totalitarian state

To The Daily Sun,

The framers of our Constitution were right to worry.

They worried about the potential for the abuse of power to undermine our democracy. They especially feared an unscrupulous president who fancies becoming an all-powerful king or dictator.

Their constitutional system of checks and balances to prevent any one branch of government from accumulating too much power held fast until now.

Donald Trump and his loyalists are busy consolidating his power using Project 2025 as their roadmap. They are pushing to create an authoritarian state, all the while masquerading as a democracy. Integral to their plan is a white Christian nationalist agenda. 

At this point, Trump has sidelined Congress and blocked funding already allocated for essential programs. His administration has fired federal watchdogs and thousands of civil servants who protect our civil, consumer, safety and environmental rights. He has weaponized the Department of Justice and deployed the military against civilians on American soil, while masked ICE agents terrorize immigrants and citizens. The Supreme Court is doing very little to stop him.

Trump has done nothing about his promises to reduce consumer prices and increase affordable housing. He also reneged on his promise not to cut Medicaid.

Several days ago, our GOP-controlled Congress rubber-stamped his sweeping tax and spending bill. It adds $4 trillion to our national debt limit and is expected to increase our federal deficit by $2.4 trillion over the next decade. $3.5 billion is allocated for border and national security.

Ignoring wide public opposition, Trump cut spending for essential safety net programs like SNAP and Medicaid. Kids will go hungry. The poorest, most vulnerable in our communities will suffer needlessly. All to extend $4.5 trillion in tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthy and large corporations. 

The Congressional Budget Office projects that 10.9 million people will lose their health insurance.

Linda Terwilliger

Gilford