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Newsom cuts threaten
disabled and unhoused
Gov. Newsom’s May revisions to the budget aiming to revert $50 million in statewide funding for the Housing and Disability Advocacy Program (HDAP), will worsen the homeless crisis. This funding helps homeless people with disabilities get into actual housing. In our community, this is a priority.
Our HDAP-funded staff have helped 135 people get into permanent housing since 2021. That’s 135 people who would be on the streets without HDAP funds. The majority of these people are over 55 and have been homeless for years. They are the most vulnerable people in encampments and shelters by far.
Barack Obama said that “a budget is more than just a series of numbers on a page; it is an embodiment of our values.” Newsom’s budget aims to take away funds that are currently succeeding at getting people off the streets and into appropriate housing.
Mary Gilg
Berkeley
June 6 offers chance
to thank WWII heroes
It’s time to celebrate the Greatest Generation and the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the decisive military operation of World War II.
On June 6, 1944, the segregated military forces of the United States began their ultimate triumph over the opposing German forces. Social conditions in the United States may not have been optimal then, but this country was certainly better than Nazi Germany.
We must give credit where credit is due.
David Talley
San Lorenzo
In war, there are only
winners and losers
Re: “Do we still understand how wars are won?” (Page A7, May 31).
Bret Stephens makes excellent points regarding the lack of leadership and the will to win exhibited by the United States in numerous conflicts over the past decades, and recently in the current conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe today.
I was reminded of a point of view expressed by a friend many years ago who was a former military officer, regarding military conflicts: “There are no ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’ in war, only winners and losers.”
William Crisick
Walnut Creek
GOP trades relevance
for Trump worship
The GOP is the party of conspiracies. They claim elections are fixed unless they win, the news is fake unless it is favorable to them, and the judicial system is rigged and somehow it is part of the deep state because Donald Trump was convicted by a jury of his peers.
The GOP used to be a vital force in our political and legislative landscapes, standing for lower taxes and streamlined government.
Now the GOP is a joke, having completely lost its way by aligning itself to the whims, conspiracies, lies and the whining of Mr. Trump.
Barry Brynjulson
Pleasanton
Protests offer chance
to be heard by powerful
Re: “Police arrest pro-Palestinian demonstrators inside San Francisco building housing Israeli Consulate” (June 3).
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Given how hard it is to raise and keep opposing views in the public arena, how hard it is to get personal interviews with our U.S. representatives and senators, how hard it is to counter well-funded arms lobbyists and cash-flush groups such as AIPAC, actions like sit-ins, encampments and roadblocks (no matter how inconvenient), are often the only options for opposing voices and narratives to be heard and attended to.
It takes great courage to risk arrest by engaging in nonviolent direct actions in opposition to the ongoing devastation in Gaza. Were true debate possible and partisan politics abandoned, peace not more war would be the more likely outcome for Palestinians.
Eleanor Levine
Oakland
