Letters to the Editor: Trump’s $5,000 pledge flies in the face of all of our democracy’s principles

To the editor: Now that the whole world has witnessed the president of the most powerful and richest country in the world offering a specific financial incentive fully dependent on the outcome of an election (“Trump, hoping to salvage midterms, makes dubious pledge to give every U.S. adult $5,000 if GOP wins,” Sept. 10), it does beg the question: To paraphrase one of Trump’s often repeated boasts, what country isn’t laughing at us now?

Never mind President Trump’s speech the next evening, which included his enthusiastic encouragement for GOP voters to “cheat like hell” (verbatim). You couldn’t make up something this blatantly in contradiction of all of this country’s long-held principles — until now.

Hopefully, the vast majority of Americans will remember it wasn’t that long ago, in the self-proclaimed “greatest democracy in the world,” that people actually voted for free, without any expectation of a $5,000 reward for doing so.

Ted Rosenblatt, Hancock Park

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To the editor: A one-time bribe won’t solve the affordability trap for non-affluent Americans. The U.S. can do better by following the Alaska model: Create a funding source (in Alaska, it’s a tax on oil and mineral extraction) and distribute the ongoing revenue to residents. It’s permanent and helps residents permanently. With new revenue, it wouldn’t add to the national debt.

Nationwide, I’d suggest a significant tax on major stock and bondholders. They’re the major beneficiaries of working families’ inadequate pay. Exempt small investors. This wouldn’t increase the costs for businesses and wouldn’t force them to raise prices, reduce wages or cut jobs.

Bob Gerecke, Claremont

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To the editor: Trump’s promise to pay every American adult $5,000 if Republicans keep control of Congress may seem like an obvious attempt to bribe taxpayers with their own money. But it’s worse, and the key word is “adult.” Since Republican control is producing annual budget deficits, the source of Trump’s bribe would likely be borrowed money that future taxpayers will have to repay, plus interest.

So, Trump isn’t just trying to bribe you with your own money; he’s trying to bribe you with your children’s money. Is this what Republicans call “family values”?

Jay Lynch, Pittsburgh

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To the editor: The president’s pledge for $5,000 payouts if election day goes his way is another TACO Tuesday. There’s no chance he’ll honor that pledge even if the GOP wins convincingly. Not only will Trump chicken out as he always does, but he insults every adult in the country for promising such a whopper.

Tim Geddes, Huntington Beach

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To the editor: I’m still waiting for my promised dividends from all the president’s tariffs and from the Department of Government Efficiency savings.

Where’s our money and do we get interest?

Joe Garcia, Yorba Linda

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To the editor: I have watched with horror as Trump has defied every ethical and moral rule by which a society lives and grows. This last one, bribing the American people with $5,000 each if the Republicans maintain control of the Congress in November, sinks to a new low.

Just when I think I’ve seen the lowest form of his ethics and morals, I know Trump and his people have yet another anti-humanity policy coming down the pike. This is soul-crushing as we watch this country decline further downward with no end in sight. I don’t like feeling helpless or hopeless, but I’m hanging on by a very well-worn string.

Ellen Faulk, Los Angeles