Kansans aren’t taking Trump’s un-American overreach sitting down | Opinion
Emboldened by majorities of Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate, President Donald Trump has launched a full attack to try to destroy our democracy. A goal of his is to remove the rights and protections Americans have been guaranteed and enjoyed for more than 200 years.
Our president who never served in the military plans to punish our veterans by firing up to 83,000 Veterans Affairs employees who provide medical and other necessary services to the most deserving among us.
Candidate Trump promised Medicaid would not be touched. Legislation passed by the House would cause 9 million low-income, disabled and older Americans to lose health care coverage provided through Medicaid. That could include hundreds of thousands of Kansans and Missourians.
More than 3 million people living in or near poverty would no longer have federal food assistance. More than 60% of this group are families with children.
He is in open defiance of courts at all levels and is viciously attacking judges who correctly rule against his initiatives.
He is alleging fraud and corruption in Social Security, likely as an eventual excuse to cut it. Audits show less than 1% fraud.
States devastated by natural events will no longer receive federal assistance to rebuild.
The Republican Congress has let him fire thousands of government employees regardless of the importance of their duties or their performance. Many valuable government services have been eliminated or deeply curtailed.
These cuts and the Trump executive orders have occurred so he can cut taxes for the country’s richest people. Trillions of dollars would be added to the national debt.
Trump was elected largely because of the high cost of living which, as a candidate, he promised to “lower on Day 1.” However, as president, he has unilaterally implemented tariffs which would increase the cost of living for all Americans. He lied saying China and other foreign countries would pay the tariffs. Americans now understand that American importing companies and their American customers pay tariffs.
Trump has no credibility because of his constantly lying about anything and everything. His approval is already below 45%.
Immigrants crossing the border illegally was the other main issue on which he was elected. This needed to be fixed. But his deportation of immigrants is highlighted by masked immigration officers, often acting roughly without valid reasons. Why would federal employees need to wear masks?
But Trump and his enabling Republicans did not anticipate what Is happening now and what will eventually end these illegal and un-American actions. With no national coordination, congressional Republicans’ town hall meetings in their home districts turned into angry confrontations — such as an early one with Sen. Roger Marshall that made international news. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson urged his members to stop holding these meetings with their constituents.
Resistance to the Trump-GOP agenda started organically at these meetings and has grown significantly. This resistance is continuing to grow in strength and will be impossible to ignore until a new direction is taken by Republican politicians.
Millions of Americans are attending rallies across the country. The Hands-Off rallies on April 5 were attended by more than 5 million people in 1,400 different locations. Other assemblies have been and are being coordinated by 50501, Indivisible and various coalitions of independent, pro-democracy organizations.
It is estimated that over 8 million people will attend the No Kings rallies on June 14, including ones in Topeka, Jefferson City and Kansas City.
These demonstrations and others to follow will focus on the 2026 midterm elections and identify Trump enablers who do not deserve reelection. In Kansas, it will be: “2026 is coming; Roger Marshall is going.” Also in Kansas beside Marshall, Republican Reps. Ron Estes, Tracey Mann and Derek Schmidt should be targeted in their districts. Republicans will know they can lose their office for not opposing Trump.
Not since the Vietnam War mobilized Americans to join together against it has anything united citizens like the Donald Trump-Republican agenda to end democracy in the United States.