“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” Martin Luther King

A budget is a moral document. What we fund is what we value.

This budget does not value children or the elderly or ordinary people at all. This is a budget to serve the wealthiest people.

The wealthiest people will always be able to buy clean water and food. We need the food inspectors to make sure all food is safe. So that everyone can eat. We need to support school lunches and Meals on Wheels so that the most vulnerable are fed.

The wealthiest people do not need the National Parks; they have their own retreats. We need the parks because everyone deserves a vacation.

We need all the historic places to tell the truth about our past. The Stonewall Riots were the birth of the LGBTQ rights movement. It was led by Trans women. At that time it was illegal to be gay. Those were dark times. Things are much nicer now that it’s not a big deal to have a same sex family in the neighborhood. Trump ordered all references to Trans and queer people be removed from the Stonewall site. He is trying to change the past. Gaslighting on a national scale.

Trump has ordered that the gender on a passport must match the person’s birth certificate. That is denying Trans people the right to travel as themselves. That is systematic Dehumanization.

First they came for the Trans kids

New York state said “Not so fast. We have an equal rights amendment”

But Texas said “Sounds good to me”

We must stand up for the trans kids. If it is OK to claim one group has no rights because they do not exist, then other groups can be added to the list.

There are no illegitimate people. Some people are here without documents because documents are very hard to get. There is no path to citizenship. We need the workers that are being deported. Those three people from Dunkirk that ICE picked up last week, what were they doing here? Were they working? Is there a construction crew missing people now? Is there a family with a missing Dad? Is this family going to be homeless because they lost their breadwinner? The paper only told us they were illegal. There is so much more to them.

Trans people used to hide it as best they could. Now young people are exploring gender in new ways. Making it illegal isn’t going to change that.

Personally I very much do not want to go back to the days gay people hid.

Systematic Dehumanization is very bad for people. A healthy society values everyone.

Yes, I am a bleeding heart. I think all children deserve food and that’s why I am distressed about this budget. What will happen to the school lunch in Pine Valley? How will they make up the shortfall? What will happen to Meals on Wheels?

If Trump can change the name of the Gulf of Mexico, can he justify invading Canada? Invading Canada might seem absurd but so does defending Russia.

For the last 80 years we have enjoyed a stable world order. Us, the democracies of the world, against the communists, Russia and China. In the Democracies, people are free to say what they like. In the communist controlled countries most people kept their mouths shut or got into trouble. Now Russia has dropped the mask of Communism. The idea that workers should control the means of production and thus profit from it is officially dead.

Now Trump has aligned himself with Vladimir Putin. Pulling us out of NATO is a terrible decision.

The freedom of the press is under attack by Trump’s administration. The Associated Press is an international organization. The rest of the world still uses “Gulf of Mexico”. The AP is excluded from the White House press corps and Air Force One. Changing the name is a way to impose power over others and over reality.

What about all the pull down maps in classrooms all across the country? Are they changing them with a sharpie? Will they change them back in four years when we elect someone sane? If we have legitimate elections again in four years.

This is the time for people to get involved. If you don’t want a dictatorship we must get out in the streets. On April 5, all across the country there are going to be demonstrations. “Hands Off our services” meet at 11 at Dow Park in Jamestown or Niagara Square in Buffalo. Show the powers that be that we are active and we are angry.

Marie Tomlinson is a Fredonia resident.