Democrats are too quick to spend tax dollars

I agree with Pastor P.M. Smith of Baltimore who appeared on FOX45 Morning News recently (“Maryland lawmakers face bipartisan challenges as 2025 legislative session kicks off,” Jan. 8). He is a wise man of faith. Some of us have heard about Maryland’s deficit of almost $3 billion and growing in the next years. Just two years ago, we had over $5 billion in surplus funds. That means that under Gov. Wes Moore, the Democrats in Annapolis have spent $8 billion and put us into debt and lost our great status for borrowing. Where did it go? For what and to whom? They talk around it and hide what they have done like teens who have wrecked the car.

Democrats say that they won’t raise taxes on working families (“Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says budget plan includes $2B in cuts,” Jan. 8). They already have. They raised a lot of “fees” last year. They are taxes we pay to the government. Apprentices and master plumbers had fees raised under Moore. Aren’t they working people? The cost of a learner’s permit went up. Don’t workers need to drive to get to work? Politicians twist and change the truth. This is in addition to the Democrats in Washington who print money like its running water so that the dollar you saved a year or two ago is worth much less today.

In a recent poll (if you trust Democratic pollsters), Moore has great approval numbers. He is just another smooth-talking politician like our past Democratic governors. They tax and spend down to the Rainy Day Fund and any surplus. They don’t care about voters because they can keep most of them ignorant of what they are doing, especially those who vote strictly by party or race.

— Rev. Michael T. Buttner, Bel Air

Poll on transgender athletes may be misleading

The recent article by Kristina Watrobski of the Sinclair National Desk, “Most US parents support kids joining sports teams based on biological sex, poll shows” (Jan. 7), raised several questions. Here is an important one: Were the poll respondents made aware of the actual number of transgender students participating in scholastic sports relative to the overall number of students participating in those programs, based upon either local, state, or national statistics?

And did the pollsters share with the poll respondents data relative to the actual number of transgender students presently being served by public and private schools relative to entire school population, again based on local, state, or national statistics?

I ask these questions as the article does not offer evidence of the respondents’ understanding of the issue being polled. If the respondents were made aware of this data, it would better support the validity of the poll. If not, that information would better inform the reader of the very narrow scope and, in my opinion, the uninformed nature of this poll.

— David Ditman, Catonsville

US must stop helping Israel harm Palestinians in Gaza

Stop funding mass murder of innocent Palestinians including children (“Israeli strikes kill 12 in Gaza, including children, as war grinds into the new year,” Jan. 1)!

American physicians who have worked in Gaza testify that they have never any signs of any combatants within the hospitals and they have attempted to treat many children with sniper gunshots.

Israel must be pressured to stop the targeted kidnapping, torture and killing of all health care professionals. Congress must conduct public hearings and allow the doctors to give their eyewitness testimonies about war crimes in Gaza.

Doctors have risked their lives to treat the homeless, wounded, ill, disabled and starving innocents in Gaza. Congress should demand the end to the bombings and killings and provide these physicians with the necessary safety, supplies, infrastructure and food to do their lifesaving work. Gaza doctor Hussam Abu Safia from Kamal Adwan Hospital is reportedly being held at Israel’s notorious Sde Teiman detention camp.

Members of Congress must stop believing the lies from the Israeli government that are used to justify their campaign to make Gaza uninhabitable and to drive out or to physically eliminate all Palestinians from the area. Israel is expanding by turning Gaza into a mass graveyard. Our leaders on Capitol Hill must stop closing their minds and refusing to hear the truth of what has been going on in Gaza because of campaign contributions by pro-Israel individuals and groups.

Many Jewish Americans oppose the policies of the Israeli government. Prominent Jewish Historian Avi Shlaim has said that Israel government violates three principles of Judaism — “altruism, justice and peace.”

The Israeli government is destroying the souls of their people. Will our elected leaders continue to do the same to the American people by being complicit and supporting Israel’s crimes against humanity?

— Martin Glaser, Catonsville