Letters: RFK Jr. nomination should raise alarms for all Americans

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RFK Jr. nomination
should raise alarms

Re: “Caroline Kennedy warns senators that RFK Jr. is a ‘predator’” (Page A2, Jan. 29).

Of all of the grossly unqualified Cabinet nominees of Donald Trump, the one that is the most dangerous is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump wants to make the secretary of Health & Human Services, which includes the CDC and FDA.

RFK Jr.’s cousin, Caroline Kennedy, just publicly stated that he has had his children all vaccinated while spreading disinformation that virtually no vaccinations are safe. His debunked conspiracy theories are not limited to health misinformation. He also says, without evidence, that the CIA murdered his uncle, President Kennedy; Sirhan Sirhan did not assassinate his father, Bobby Kennedy; mass shootings are linked to prescription drugs; AIDS is not caused by HIV; and the list goes on.

When RFK Jr. was running for president, his siblings published a letter saying, not just that he was unqualified, but that, if elected, he would be “dangerous” for the country.

Arthur Straus
Walnut Creek

Will fires be precursor
to Prop. 13 reform

Re: “Fire departments lament low staffing” (Page A1, Jan. 27).

As wildfires are burning through Los Angeles stretching our fire departments to their limits, we must ask why we aren’t investing in public safety. Back in 2020, Proposition 15, the “Schools and Communities First Funding Act,” could have closed corporate loopholes in Prop.13 thus bringing in $12 billion annually for public services, including $1.5 billion for fire departments starting in 2022. Instead of that happening, that money stays with corporations like Chevron and Disney.

We are facing wildfires, floods and other natural disasters that are continuing to worsen. If leaders refuse to act on combating climate change, then the least they can do is fund emergency responders. Next time Prop. 13 reform is on the ballot, let’s put public safety over corporate greed because our survival depends on it.

Jules Pizano
Berkeley

Ending foreign aid
threatens U.S. standing

The Trump administration has made a horrendous decision that puts lives at risk and undermines U.S. credibility around the world. The administration issued a stop-work order on almost all foreign assistance programs around the world.

Foreign assistance dollars provide essential services for health care, nutrition, education and more. These programs strengthen U.S. alliances around the world.

The stop-work order undermines U.S. credibility while putting countless lives at risk. It is also an unconstitutional obstruction of the will of Congress.

Susan Oehser
Oakland

Trump is no friend
in the White House

Re: “America finally has a friend in the White House” (Page A8, Jan. 26).

The letter from Michael Erickson about Donald Trump being a friend in the White House misses the mark by a lot.

This is a president who promised to lower gasoline and grocery prices, knowing that he had no way to do that. This is a guy who is, so far, acting more like a king than a president.

And we are supposed to consider him a “friend in the White House”? I think not.

George Fulmore
Emeryville

Trump keeps promises
that benefit himself

Re: “America finally has a friend in the White House” (Page A8, Jan. 26).

I got a little chuckle out of Michael Ericson’s letter about Trump being a “friend in the White House” when he said Trump is “enacting promises made with promises kept.”

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Letters: We will feel Trump’s migrant crackdown in our wallets, at our tables

So let’s review his first term:

• Trump was going to build a big, beautiful wall and make Mexico pay for it. Did he? No.