Dear Editor,
In 2026, as America celebrates the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation, citizens will have an opportunity to lift up the principles of our constitution that made America great. Lady Liberty stands in Liberty Square in Mount Vernon as a reminder of the values that have shaped our community and our nation: liberty, justice, and equal opportunity for all.
In direct contrast to these shared principles, the corrupt MAGA politicians in Washington are failing the American people. Despite a second term pledge to end US involvement in costly and destructive foreign wars, Trump has ordered strikes on seven countries since returning to office last year.
Trump’s war on Iran continues to be a tragedy of incompetence: thirteen service members are dead and 200 military personnel have been wounded, many seriously. A U.S. tomahawk missile killed over 100 Iranian school children using a target map they had not bothered to update, and now the closing of shipping lanes is resulting in spiking gas prices and threatening the global energy supply. All of this with no clear goal for how this war will end.
The war on Iran is costing an estimated billion dollars a day while Americans at home are unable to pay rising health care premiums, and are watching the cost of food, utilities and housing skyrocket.Â
It is time for Congress to hold the corrupt Trump administration accountable for their actions and to refuse to authorize additional funds for his criminal way of choice.
Americans deserve politicians who will stand up for the American people.
Erin Salva
Mount Vernon, Ohio