Copyright Star Tribune
Nothing spells oligarch like a $250 million ballroom addition to the White House that reflects Mar-a-Lago architecture (“Part of White House is demolished for Trump’s ‘much needed’ ballroom,” front page, Oct. 22). Billionaires and companies such as Google, Alphabet, Lockheed Martin, Palantir and others have pledged large sums toward the completion of President Donald Trump’s pet project. Optics be damned, this tribute to himself is the stuff that produced the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette was dismissive of the starving peasants. The government is currently closed down, leaving countless federal employees out of work and many working without pay while inflation continues to be a problem for most Americans. Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” is expected to leave tens of millions without health insurance and health care. His focus is an opulent ballroom where very few Americans will polka while the rich and famous contributors look to collect their quid pro quo. And really, do we need more gold toilets? Newsweek reports that Trump claims the shutdown is threatening programs like Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. “We will not be extorted by this crazy plot of theirs,” Trump is reported as saying. “They’ve never done this before. Nobody has. You always vote for an extension.” And on the same day, Trump said he wants the DOJ to pay him $230M because his “rights were violated” during federal investigations (“Trump wants DOJ to pay him $230M,” front page, Oct. 22). Everyone should know that he is in office to profit himself and his family to the detriment of anybody without the means to fight his ridiculous lawsuits. I have heard the assertion that the “No Kings” protests are proof that we have a democracy. Often China and North Korea are used as comparisons. It brings to mind a questionnaire I once filled out that asked, “Do you like apples or giraffes?” We’re comparing established dictatorships to the dismantling of an almost 250-year-old democracy — two distinctly different things. The current White House occupant has consistently flaunted that he is above and not beholden to either of the supposedly separate-but-equal legislative and judicial branches. He does indeed act as if they have absolute power or, as his aide Stephen Miller has said, “plenary authority.” To prove this point one only has to look the White House. With questionable to no legal authority we are witnessing the demolition of the East Wing of a citizen-owned building to construct an imperial ballroom by, take your pick, a temporary inhabitant that may lose residency in the next presidential election or someone who is hell-bent on becoming a king — aka dictator. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that Trump is demolishing part of the White House. He’s been demolishing elements of our democracy throughout the years of his presidency. My hope is that that those in government who aid and abet his dictatorial/kingly actions will start speaking up and take action to stop his demolishing of our democracy. A reprinted article in the Minnesota Star Tribune recently reported that the Department of Homeland Security purchased two Gulfstream private jets for Kristi Noem and other top department officials at a cost of $172 million, ostensibly for safety concerns (“DHS buys two jets for Noem at $172M,” Oct. 19). Concurrently, the Trump administration plans to fire around 10,000 federal workers (“White House trying to fire thousands during the shutdown”). How did our government’s priorities become so warped? The government shutdown is the Trump administration’s opportunity to fire 10,000 people; what incentive do they have to end it? In the meantime, fired federal workers lack the income to pay for rent, child care or food. For Trump bureaucrats, this doesn’t seem to matter. What matters to them is to provide Noem two nice, shiny new jets — an egregious example of mean-spirited and self-serving priorities, which does nothing to make America great again. A recent report by KFF in July 2025 stated that just under half of U.S. adults say it is difficult to afford health care costs. After recent publications on health insurance premiums for 2026, I’d wager that now, far more than that would say as much. I know that I do. My monthly health insurance premiums now match that of the monthly mortgage on my home. Gone are the days when a person’s greatest expense would be their home. Do you remember that pie chart from your consumer education class in high school? The one that said that the most a fiscally responsible person should spend on housing is 30% of their income? Well, that pie chart would be out the window in a heartbeat in today’s economy. My pie chart looks more like 40% housing, 40% health insurance premiums, 20% good luck with the rest of your living expenses. It does not take a tenured professor to look at those numbers and know that it is insane. Insane and unsustainable. My income has never seen an increase remotely big enough to match any of the additional costs I’m experiencing from all fronts: health insurance, homeowners insurance, groceries, college tuition, utilities. You name it, I no longer earn enough to afford it. My college degree and three decades of work experience are not enough to save me from this upcoming tidal wave of debt. I cannot eliminate enough dinners out, coffee stops and entertainment opportunities to pinch and save my way out of this mess. I am staring straight down the face of eventual bankruptcy. I worked my entire life to be reasonably debt free; I own my car, pay my credit card in full every month, save a little for my kid’s college, save a little for my retirement. I played by the rules. I made sacrifices, did without, put off having the “nicer” things in life so that I could do as well as my parents. At 56 years of age, I see that effort disappearing, not little by little, but by leaps and bounds. I will not be able to retire, even at 70, because I will be in debt from keeping up with the basics. I ask, where are the lawmakers who have some control over my destiny and the destiny of millions of folks like me? What are they doing to try to help their struggling constituents navigate these unprecedented times? I look toward Capitol Hill and all I see are empty hallways and vacant chambers. I call their offices and someone takes my SOS message and promises delivery. I hear nothing. I receive nothing. Nothing but more demands for my hard-earned money. I pay my fair share in taxes and for what, exactly? I used to believe I knew. Now, I am certain I do not. Someone out there, please! Please help the 99% that are being crushed under the weight of unbearable and undeserved debt. If this is what a great America looks like, I strongly beg to differ. I am America and I am not doing great.
