I have protested at Donald Trump’s and Sen. Doug Mastriano’s rallies. It is always baffling when one of the participants looks at me and, in their best authoritative angry voice, shouts at me to “get a job.” Now, with my gray hair, hunched shoulders and wrinkled skin, I am obviously way past retirement age. But those facts do not seem to matter to some Republicans. They see a Democrat and assume he or she is a freeloader.
The facts tell a different story. The blue states send more tax money to Washington than they receive back, and the red states receive more tax money from Washington than they send. So if anyone is a freeloader, it is a Republican.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis personifies this mentality. He railed against New Jersey and New York receiving government funds after a disaster but demands assistance when Florida has one. This attitude is a little hypocritical.
Do not let them gaslight you. Democrats and Republicans share common needs and goals. We should unite against the real enemy, big money and big corporations. The wealthy are focused on a single objective: making more money. To that end, they do not want to pay their fair share of taxes — taxes that we depend on for our safety and protection, our roads, a clean environment and schools. They do not want regulations that interfere with their money-making schemes. They want to privatize everything and anything to make more money.
We need to stop demonizing one another and focus on the real enemy, the 1%.
Joanne Garing
North Huntingdon