Letter to the editor: Trump budgets like a dictator

Dictators concentrate their power by strengthening their military while weakening the general populace by undermining their physical and social well-being.

Money is concentrated in the hands of the very few and very privileged.

We have only to look at Venezuela's current disastrous mess: starving, ailing people, a crumbling infrastructure and a society that is self-destructing.

Trump has proposed a budget that does exactly this: builds the military, cuts funding for safety-net programs and rolls back to one-fifth the level of infrastructure repair and development.

Combined with his abuse of the National Emergencies Act and the tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations, this latest budget proposal gives us a very good look at where his values really lie.

He is an autocratic businessman and now he cuddles up to dictators - because that is what he really wants to be.

We need to stand strong in opposition to his moves against overall health and financial security of our citizenry as a whole. Our democracy is at stake here, nothing less.

Jamie Smith

Wheaton