To the editor:
I was worried when President Trump hired Tea Party favorite Mick Mulvaney not only to be his budget director but to also serve as his chief of staff.
I have heard from several reliable sources that it is largely Mulvaney who is behind Trump’s current budget proposal, which would deeply cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. When he was a Congressman, Mulvaney was widely known for saying that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” that is “unconstitutional” and ought to be abolished.
He is an example of a growing number of national-level conservatives who seem to believe in — but won’t publically admit to it — a scheme of survival-of-the-fittest Social Darwinism whose ultimate goal is to see all federal government social safety-net programs abolished.
In addition to the Koch brothers, who at least openly admit that they want Social Security to be abolished, other such Social Darwinists can be found in the House Freedom Caucus and among the Movement Conservatives, including Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz and Mike Pence.
This is why there are many liberal/progressive Democrats like me who do not want to see Pence become president and who actually prefer Trump over Pence because Pence is much more conservative.
Stewart B Epstein
Rochester, N.Y.
I do not advocate it. I do not want to see it. Too many innocents, perhaps millions, will perish. I tell you flatly and plainly, if Mulvaney and his ilk succeed, there will be war. The divide between us is far too great now. Don’t be foolish enough to believe the left will just lay down and die or go away with its tail between its legs. Cease with your sanctimony, your hubris and your denial. Don’t let ideological absolutism blind you from seeing the precipice you are shoving us toward. Too many on my side have been pushed too far. If it all goes down, it will be unimaginable violence and anarchy. Inevitably, the divide between the right and left will morph into multiple warring factions. There will be gangs ruling here, warlords ruling there, religious fanatics elsewhere and no man’s land all over. I tell you plainly. Back down. You’re going too far.