The Pentagon dishonored my uncle's sacrifice by scrubbing U.S. history
'Air Force Deletes Pages on First Female Thunderbirds Pilot Amid DEI Purge,' (sacbee.com, April 16)
My uncle, Private First Class Dean Hunt, was killed in action in World War II on Iwo Jima. He joined the Marines at 18 and died eight months later.
The Pentagon has dishonored my uncle's sacrifice by scrubbing from their website two pages profiling another Marine who fought on Iwo Jima, Ira Hayes, one of the six Marines shown raising the American flag in an iconic photograph.
The profiles of Hayes, a Pima Indian, were removed to comply with President Donald Trump's order abolishing diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said, 'anybody that says in the Department of Defense that diversity is our strength is frankly incorrect.' Following an outcry, one webpage was restored, but many references to Hayes' ethnicity were removed.
My uncle fought for freedom and equality, values that the current administration is systematically undermining. I hope that the arc of the moral universe will once again bend toward justice.
P. Alan Thiesen
Roseville
'Sacramento mayor, council salary increases amid budget talk,' (sacbee.com, May 14)
Sacramento has projected a $44 million deficit for the coming fiscal year and is contemplating cuts in services and raising fees, some of which have already occurred. Yet, in an effort to be 'reasonable and consistent' with comparable cities, the city's Compensation Commission unanimously voted to award raises to the mayor of 12% and 8% to the city council.
What is a 'reasonable' pay raise to leaders of a city drowning in debt? Many on the current council made — or agreed with — decisions which caused the current deficit, which is projected to be worse next year. Now, as they contemplate layoffs and diminishing services to the community they serve, is it reasonable to award them such generous wage hikes?
Was nothing learned from the city manager pay debacle? What 'rules' should be applied as the city goes bankrupt?
Bill Motmans
Sacramento
'Public health in California shaken by federal funding cuts,' (sacbee.com, April 9)
As a clinician scientist dedicated to understanding the roots of dementia, I've long believed that science, integrity and compassion must guide our work. Recently, these values were put to the test.
After years of progress under grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes, research focused on identifying vascular contributions to cognitive decline — our work was disrupted and nearly completely derailed by cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services. It was a painful reminder of how easily vital work can be threatened by bureaucracy.
But we persisted, not just for ourselves, but for the millions of families impacted by dementia. Research must be protected, because behind every data point is a human story, and behind every story is hope.
Charles DeCarli, M.D.
Co-director, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center of UC Davis
'In rural California, gray wolves are a growing threat demanding attention | Opinion,' (sacbee.com, May 17)
I grew up around wolves. I've seen dozens of wolves over the past decade when I have visited Yellowstone. As a child, growing up in the Greater Yellowstone in Montana, my safety was never in danger or threatened by a wolf.
As a wildlife major, it's been exciting to see wolves come back to California. But recent headlines about emergency declarations have been alarming.
We must listen, understand and work together to keep ourselves and our wolf population safe.
John Marchwick
Eureka
'Prison closure, Ozempic limit, cap-and-what? 5 takeaways from Gavin Newsom's budget,' (sacbee.com, May 16)
It would be a mistake for Gov. Gavin Newsom to restrict Medi-Cal coverage of weight loss drugs, like Zepbound and Wegovy.
Medi-Cal will continue GLP-1 coverage for diabetics, meaning California won't offer overweight Medi-Cal patients access to GLP-1 drugs to help them avoid becoming diabetic, but it will pay for these treatments once they put on so much weight that they develop the disease. This is illogical.
GLP-1 drugs will save Medi-Cal money.
Hank Naughton
Clinton, Mass.
'Rooftop solar subsidies raise electricity costs in California,' (sacbee.com, May 16)
California has long established rooftop solar as a cornerstone of its energy and climate goals. Rooftop solar is a key tool in providing affordable housing for all, allowing middle class families to maintain control over their energy bills.
Assembly Bill 942, however, threatens to inject chaos into the housing market. Under the bill, new homeowners purchasing properties with existing solar installations would have their contracts retroactively changed to the less favorable Net Energy Metering 3.0. This would diminish the value of homes with solar panels to buyers and create unnecessary friction in the home sale.
For homebuilders, this is particularly problematic: AB 942 will create new housing market risks, exacerbating housing costs. While AB 942 claims to address energy 'affordability,' it will have the opposite effect.
California should be doing everything we can to help homebuyers enter into affordable and energy-resilient homes. AB 942 undermines that goal.
Chris Ochoa
Senior counsel, California Building Industry Association
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Associated Press
11 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Transgender troops face a deadline and a difficult decision: Stay or go?
WASHINGTON (AP) — As transgender service members face a deadline to leave the U.S. military, hundreds are taking the financial bonus to depart voluntarily. But others say they will stay and fight. For many, it is a wrenching decision to end a career they love, and leave units they have led or worked with for years. And they are angry they are being forced out by the Trump administration's renewed ban on transgender troops. Active duty service members had until Friday to identify themselves and begin to leave the military voluntarily, while the National Guard and Reserve have until July 7. Then the military will begin involuntary separations. Friday's deadline comes during Pride Month and as the Trump administration targets diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, saying it's aiming to scrub the military of 'wokeness' and reestablishing a 'warrior ethos.' 'They're tired of the rollercoaster. They just want to go,' said one transgender service member, who plans to retire. 'It's exhausting.' For others, it's a call to arms. 'I'm choosing to stay in and fight,' a noncommissioned officer in the Air Force said. 'My service is based on merit, and I've earned that merit.' The troops, who mainly spoke on condition of anonymity because they fear reprisals, said being forced to decide is frustrating. They say it's a personal choice based on individual and family situations, including whether they would get an infusion of cash or possibly wind up owing the government money. 'I'm very disappointed,' a transgender Marine said. 'I've outperformed, I have a spotless record. I'm at the top of every fitness report. I'm being pushed out while I know others are barely scraping by.' Some transgender troops decide to leave based on finances Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said this is President Donald Trump's directive and what America voted for. The Pentagon, he said, is 'leaving wokeness & weakness behind' and that includes 'no more dudes in dresses.' Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a veteran, and 22 other Democratic senators have written to Hegseth urging him to allow transgender troops to keep serving honorably. Already, more than 1,000 service members have voluntarily identified themselves as transgender and are slated to begin leaving, according to rough Defense Department estimates. Defense officials say there are about 4,240 active duty transgender troops but acknowledge the numbers are fuzzy. For many, the decision is financial. Those who voluntarily leave will get double the amount of separation pay they would normally receive and won't have to return bonuses or tuition costs. Those who refuse to go could be forced to repay reenlistment or other bonuses as high as $50,000. That was the tipping point for Roni Ferrell, an Army specialist at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington. Ferrell, 28, lives on base with her wife and two children and had planned to stay in the Army for at least another decade. But she said she felt 'backed into a corner' to sign the voluntary separation agreement, fearing she would have to repay an $18,500 reenlistment bonus. 'My commander basically said it was my only option in order to make sure my kids are taken care of,' Ferrell said. The Marine, who has served for more than 25 years, said she had planned to stay and fight, but changed her mind. Lawyers, she said, told her an involuntary separation would put a code in her record saying she was forced to leave 'in the interests of national security.' That designation, she said, could mean those involuntarily separated could lose their security clearances, hurting future job prospects. In a statement Friday, a defense official said the code 'is not intended' to trigger clearance revocations and that gender dysphoria is not a security reporting requirement, according to the director of national intelligence. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Cynthia Cheng-Wun Weaver, senior director of litigation for Human Rights Campaign, said it's important for troops to talk with judge advocates general in their services to ensure they understand the different procedures being implemented. Other transgender troops plan to stay despite the ban The Air Force service member and a transgender officer in the Army National Guard both said they plan to stay and fight. Lawsuits over the ban continue and could change or block the policy. For troops involved in the court battles as plaintiffs, leaving voluntarily now would likely hurt their standing in the case. For others, it's simply dedication to their career. 'I've really embraced military culture, and it's embraced me,' the Air Force member said. 'It's not about money. It's the career that I love.' The Guard soldier echoed that sentiment, saying he will stay on 'because it is important to me to serve. Frankly, I'm good at it, I'm well trained so I want to continue.' Others without bonuses to repay or who have been in the military only a short while and won't get much in separation bonus pay may opt to stay and see what happens. National Guard troops face a particular problem National Guard members who are heading to their monthly drill weekend or annual two-week drill in June could be required to go but serve as the gender they were assigned at birth. That means they would have to wear uniforms and haircuts of that gender, use that bathroom and be referred to as 'sir' or 'ma'am' based on that gender. For many, that could be close to impossible and create uncomfortable situations. 'If I were to show up to drill this weekend, I'd be expected to use all female facilities, I would be expected to wear a woman's uniform,' said the Army Guard officer, who transitioned to male about five years ago and says others in his unit know him as a man. 'I don't look like a woman. I don't feel like a woman. It would be disruptive to good order and discipline for me to show up and to tell my soldiers, you have to call me 'ma'am' now.' It's not clear if Guard units are handling it all the same way, and it could be up to individual states or commanders. Some may allow troops to postpone the drill or go on administrative leave. What happens next for transgender troops? The service members interviewed by The Associated Press said they don't know what will happen once the deadline passes to leave voluntarily. Some believe that unit commanders will quickly single people out and start involuntary separations. Others say the process is vague, may involve medical review boards and could take months. The defense official said Friday that as the Pentagon takes these steps, it 'will treat our service members with dignity and respect.' Under Hegseth's directive, military commanders will be told to identify troops with gender dysphoria — when a person's biological sex does not match their gender identity — and send them to get medical checks to force them out of the service, defense officials have said. The order relies on routine annual health checks — so it could be months before that evaluation is scheduled. 'My real big sticking point is that this administration's whole push is to reform this country based around merit, and that gender, race, etc., should have no factor in hiring,' the Air Force service member said. 'If that's true, I'm solely being removed for my gender, and merit is no longer a factor.' ___ Associated Press writer R.J. Rico in Atlanta contributed to this report.
The Intercept
12 minutes ago
- The Intercept
Democrats Hate Their Own Party. The People Can Take It Back.
At a recent rally at U.S. Steel in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump stood in front of a row of workers in hard hats and safety vests and proclaimed, 'We're right now on the verge of passing the largest working class tax cuts in American history.' He framed his 'Big Beautiful Bill' — a massive tax cut for the wealthy — as a blue-collar blessing. The sleight of hand is classic Trump, and what makes his appeal to voters enduring. 'The Republican Party is building the multiracial working class coalition that the Democrats have always said that they want to build,' says David Sirota, founder of The Lever and a former Bernie Sanders speechwriter. This week on The Intercept Briefing, host Jordan Uhl speaks to Sirota and politics reporter Jessica Washington about how Trump has successfully used culture-war grievances to win over working-class voters, and why the Democratic Party continues to hemorrhage support. The episode also features Ilyse Hogue, the former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America and the co-creator of a new $20 million project called Speaking With American Men, or SAM. The initiative aims to understand — and win back — young male voters who've drifted to the right. ' A lot of what we heard from people is that they feel invisible to the Democratic coalition,' she says. The plan has sparked skepticism, but Houge says the data is clear: 'We're losing young men of every race, ethnicity, educational background, and economic class in every state we looked at.' ' Trump is constantly trying to exploit and demagogue any issue,' Sirota explains, 'and really ramrod any issue into a culture war battle where he portrays himself as the Archie Bunker defender of middle America — silent America's values — and portrays Democrats as mostly interested in talking about advocating for and protecting those who are not part of so-called middle America.' According to Hogue, voters SAM have spoken to say, ' They want affordable housing. They want access to health care. They actually feel like Democrats can't get it done.' Sirota believes it's not just lack of faith in their ability to get it done. 'The average rank-and-file Democratic voter does not like the Democratic Party, does not like the Democratic leadership,' says Sirota. And that, he argues, is an opening for change. 'You cannot serve the donors and the voters simultaneously.' Washington, who has covered the SAM initiative and broader trends in the Democratic politics, points to a central and persistent contradiction. 'You can't serve two masters,' she says. 'You cannot serve the donors and the voters simultaneously. You cannot serve the average American and the person who has $100 million in the exact same way.' If Democrats want to stop hemorrhaging support, particularly among disillusioned voters and younger men, they'll need to do more than tweak their messaging. They'll need to pick a side — and start naming villains. As Sirota argues, ' Economic populism is not just the government will strengthen or make more robust the safety net, but that the economic powers and villains in the economy will be limited in their power.' You can hear the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump Vows To ‘Rapidly Defeat Inflation' To Help ‘Millions and Millions' of Americans Achieve Their ‘Dream of Homeownership'
President Donald Trump has boldly promised to 'rapidly bring down inflation' to make homeownership more accessible to millions of Americans while addressing the National Association of Realtors® Legislative Meetings 2025 in a pre-recorded speech. Speaking to industry leaders, the pre-recorded video aired at the Washington, DC, event, the president said he believes that reducing inflation will in turn help to bring down interest rates, a move that will put homeownership 'within the reach of millions and millions for the first time in years.' 'I love people that are in the real estate business,' Trump began. 'I have a little bit of a proclivity for it. You play a vital role in helping Americans achieve the dream of homeownership, and together, we will make the American dream more attainable than ever before. 'We are working to rapidly defeat inflation, which will bring down interest rates and put homeownership within the reach of millions of millions for the first time in years.' April's inflation rate—2.3%—is 'much lower than expected,' Trump noted. 'Likewise, income soared by 0.8% in one month, almost triple expectations and close to record territory. Mortgage rates are down, we're slashing unnecessary regulations, and we are working to pass the largest tax cuts and reforms in American history.' April's inflation rate is the lowest since February 2021, but it's not expected to motivate the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. The Fed will be meeting mid-June and will announce any decision on rates when it wraps up its two days of meetings. Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly slammed Jerome Powell for not taking further action—despite the Fed chair claiming that longer-term rates will likely remain higher because of the risk of 'volatile' inflation. Homebuying help is at hand Affordability has been a major challenge for potential buyers despite home listing inventory seeing gains in regions like the West (+40.7% year over year) and the South (+32.9% YoY), according to the May 2025 Monthly Housing Report. Mortgage rates continue to hover near the 7% mark—which is leading potential buyers to take their time committing to a home. New listings also inched up last week—up 4.2% compared with the same time last year. Homeowners looking to build a new home are also faced with challenges, as Trump's 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum took effect on June 5. 'Higher tariffs on steel and aluminum are likely to raise the cost of key construction materials, and these added costs could be passed through to homebuyers through higher home prices,' says Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Following this latest tariff hike by Trump last week, the National Association of Home Builders continued to express concern over the toll the increased costs will have on homebuilders—and the wider housing market. 'President Trump's move to double steel and aluminum tariffs will have a negative impact on housing affordability by further disrupting building material supply chains and fueling business uncertainty,' NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes told But Trump, in his pre-recorded speech to the NAR, thanked industry leaders for their support of the 'big, beautiful bill,' which is currently sitting with the Senate for review. 'I want to thank the Realtors® for your support of the one big, beautiful bill, the most important piece of legislation in many years,' said Trump. 'This landmark legislation, in fact, will preserve the small-business tax deductions and so many want and need, [that] so many real estate agents are just demanding. 'It will stop trillions of dollars in tax hikes on American families and put more money in the pockets of homebuyers by raising take-home pay for the typical family by an estimated $13,000. Think of that, $13,000 with your help, a record number of Americans will achieve financial independence and find a home that really fits their dreams and aspirations, something very, very beautiful.' The tax and spending package is expected to cut trillions from the budget, but the Congressional Budget Office said it's going to add trillions to the national debt. The president is pushing the Senate to approve the bill and get it to his desk to sign by July 4. Ties with leaders at every level A president's remarks at the NAR meetings has been a tradition since 1921. For example, NAR has invited every sitting president to its yearly conference. The first time Trump was in office, he delivered a live speech to attendees in 2019. Herbert Hoover, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush are among the past presidents to speak at the conference. NAR said it does not pay a fee for a president to speak.
