Comey judged by different standard than Trump

Shouldn’t the U.S. Department of Justice be investigating President Donald Trump for inciting his MAGA cult to hit Bruce Springsteen with golf balls? Obviously, that’s what his latest goofy “Truth Social” video is meant to do, right (“Trump reignites fiery Springsteen feud with doctored golf ball video,” May 21)?

Or is it that because he is the president, anything he does is above the law, whereas somebody like former FBI Director James Comey can be targeted by the U.S. government for doing a similar thing?

— Charles Rammelkamp, Baltimore

Medicaid not a handout to the idle

In a recent letter to the editor, a reader claims that Medicaid cuts are not stealing from the poor, but merely restricting eligibility. He says Medicaid costs too much and thus, limits make sense. He accuses Baltimore Sun cartoonist Kevin Kallaugher (KAL) of “distorting the facts” (“GOP Medicaid cuts are not robbing the poor,” May 19). Yet taking health care away from 86 million Americans under the guise of “fiscal responsibility” is the definition of a robbery justified by misinformation.

It’s true, Medicaid does provide care to the poor and disabled. Medicaid is the largest health insurance program in the country supporting the health of over 80 million people including children in the United States including 1.5 million Marylanders. Medicaid not only provides lifesaving health care, but it also covers 40% of births in the U.S. (up to 50% in rural areas) and improves health outcomes overall.

Contrary to common misconceptions, Medicaid is not a handout to the idle. The assumption is that taxpayers are subsidizing many healthy, child-free adults who are out of work. In reality, 92% of non-disabled, non-elderly Medicaid enrollees already work full- or part-time. Many individuals work in low-wage jobs that do not offer employer-sponsored insurance or provide plans that are unaffordable. Work requirements have not been shown to be effective in increasing employment, but instead lead to an increase in uninsured people. The outcome? An unhealthier population. An unhealthy population can then lead to a decrease in a population’s ability to obtain and maintain employment.

Cutting essential programs to fund continued tax breaks to billionaires is not fiscal responsibility, it is cruelty designed as policy. Aside from the inherent cruelty on the individual level, the House reconciliation bill would add a massive $3.3 trillion to the debt. This isn’t just morally wrong, but also fiscally reckless.

U.S. Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen and U.S. Rep. Johnny Olszewski must work with their colleagues in Congress to oppose any plan that slashes Medicaid. The health and dignity of millions of Americans are at stake.

— Emily Kauffman, Baltimore

Elias can’t fix painful-to-watch Orioles

Thanks to The Baltimore Sun’s Sam Cohn for an excellent article on Orioles General Manager Mike Elias (“Orioles GM Mike Elias breaks silence on firing Hyde: ‘Want something new,'” May 20). Also, continued thanks to his fellow Sun sports reporters Jacob Calvin Meyer and Matt Weyrich for their excellent coverage of the Orioles. I look forward to reading their work in the Sun daily.

The troubles with an injury-plagued Orioles organization started well before this current Orioles skid. Not having most of their starting staff, especially Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Braddish, put Elias in a scramble mode. He brought in three band-aids or one-year rentals to bridge the gap until his pitchers got healthy again.

Charlie Morton and Kyle Gibson throw “cement mixer” breaking balls that don’t fool anybody. Other than Tomoyuki Sugano who has exceeded my expectations, those results have been horrendous. Was Elias ever quizzed about his making no effort to sign Anthony Santander to a long-term deal?

Also, what effort is Elias making to sign Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, and yes, Jackson Holliday, to long-term contract extensions? Is he making the same effort that he made signing Santander? In other words, no effort. He also made no effort to resign Danny Coulombe.

Elias may have to shake off his devotion to metrics and get back to signing people who can play baseball and stay healthy for the entire season.

Cohn described interim manager Tony Mansolino as a “band-aid.” I hope he is more than the other “band-aids” brought in by Elias who were unproductive nightmares. Morton, Gibson, Gary Sánchez and Tyler O’Neill cost the O’s a combined $45 million this year. Elias might have to spend for major surgery and not for first aid.

The Orioles in their present form are painful to watch, even for this Orioles lifer.

— George Hammerbacher, Catonsville