Readers sound off on protecting disability programs, Israel's origins and kids for climate action

Manhattan: As CEO of one of the nation's largest nonprofits supporting people with disabilities to live and work in their communities — funded primarily through Medicaid — I am perplexed by my colleagues who fear Medicaid cuts. I voted for President Trump because I believed, and still believe, that he would keep his promise not to cut Medicaid.
Thirty-six years ago, I founded a nonprofit because I believed that people with disabilities deserve more than to be warehoused in institutions. They deserve to live, work and have meaningful lives in their communities with the right support. Today, Community Options fulfills that mission, serving more than 6,000 individuals with disabilities through a $450 million budget, 97% of which comes from Medicaid, primarily through home and community-based waiver services. If Medicaid were to disappear or face drastic cuts, so would our nonprofit. The people we support in their own homes and neighborhoods would be forced into institutions, nursing homes or worse.
Rep. Al Green was escorted out of the House Chamber for protesting alleged Medicaid cuts during Trump's joint address to Congress. Trump has consistently opposed Medicaid cuts. Where was this outrage when disability policies had nothing to do with Trump? Why didn't Green protest when the ban on using electric shocks and mechanical restraints for behavior modification was reversed? Where were the voices of dissent as the hourly wage for fast-food workers soared past that of caregivers who are the backbone of disability support? Did I miss the outcry when home and community-based services waitlists surpassed tens of thousands across multiple states? I understand the fear of cuts. What I can't tolerate is the opportunistic timing of this outrage. The public anger we see today is not about protecting people with disabilities, it's about undermining a president. Robert Stack, founder, president and CEO, Community Options, Inc.
Manhattan: Trump Derangement Syndrome was originally a pejorative term used to describe criticism of or negative reactions to Trump. After reading Voicer Arlene Reilly's letter, I am convinced that the term should now apply to Trump supporters. She wrote that celebrities choosing to leave America don't denounce the violence and destruction, conveniently ignoring that Trump not only did not denounce the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, but referred to them as hostages and pardoned most of them, including attackers of police. Jeffrey Nelson
Neptune, N.J.: It baffled me how a man we saw do a horrible job as president could be reelected. I believe it's because the electorate places fear, anger and hatred before rational thought. We like to say, 'That is not who we are.' Yes, it is! We're afraid of 'the other.' We're angry but can't really say why. And yes, we hate. One of my favorite writers, Greg Iles, seems to have had the same reaction I did when watching the election results come in: 'I watched in disbelief as businessmen voted for a repeat bankrupt, laborers for a boss infamous for stiffing his workers, evangelicals for a serial adulterer, women for an admitted sexual assaulter, patriots for a draft dodger who would sell his country's secrets for trivial gain, educated men for an ignoramus.' I hope I'm wrong, but I think the war is over and the bad guys won. Vince Nardiello
Vero Beach, Fla.: The choices in the last presidential election were Kamala Harris (after Joe Biden bowed out) and Trump. I voted for Trump. Mike Heikkila
Oakland Gardens: In life, there is a time that one will need the help of others. One can never face certain situations alone. This also applies to countries. The United States faced that need after 9/11 and the first Iraq war, when our allies came to our aid. During this time, we as a country will eventually face a challenge where we will need the help of our friends. Under the present administration and how we have treated our closest allies, you have to ask: Will our calls for help fall on deaf ears? Think about it. Zane Tenenbaum
Brooklyn: To Voicer W. Twirley: I do not support the killing going on in Gaza, and nowhere did I mention Israel in my letter on Mahmoud Khalil. You, on the other hand, have shown your bias by condemning a country that committed one unfortunate incident in a time of war and a fight for survival. Maybe you don't know that more than 30,000 Allied soldiers were killed by friendly fire in World War II and more than 6,000 in Vietnam. Robert Weissbard
Smithtown, L.I.: Israel-haters like to call Israel out for being an apartheid state. Yet, Israel is less than 75% Jewish while there are 57 nations that are 90% or more Muslim. There are 2 billion Muslims compared to fewer than 20 million Jews. I don't get it. Andrew Ross
Manhattan: Voicer Daniel H. Trigoboff accuses me of misquoting David Ben-Gurion by omitting part of a sentence from 'The Jewish Paradox' by Nahum Goldman, translated by Steve Cox, where the alleged misquote appears on page 99: 'We [Jews] have come here and stolen their [Arabs'] country.' The Voicer objects that this is not an admission but a description of the Arabs' opinions. However, earlier on the page, Ben-Gurion is quoted as saying 'we have taken their country.' Contextually, there's little doubt what the prime minister was saying. I'm sure Trigoboff is aware that almost every scion of Zion cringes when Ben-Gurion tells the truth. But that distinguishes his character from that of the current serial liars in Israel and here. And, as legal folks like to say, evidence against interest is more credible. I do fear that Judaism is threatened by Zionism; recall that Saul's downfall was not heeding the prophetess. Michele P. Brown
Manhattan: Having spent the better part of my 70 years studying antisemitism, I believe it is safe to say there is no such thing. Most of those charged with this 'crime' are simply misinformed and uneducated. In their cases, ignorance — while not an excuse, per se — is curable in the same manner that enlightened people treat those with a propensity for drugs and alcohol. Fortunately, many such thought processes and 'diseases' can be cured. Tit-for-tat violence and mindless, anticipatory retaliation is no recognized cure for a simple session over a cup of coffee. Truth be told, learned behaviors can be unlearned, and there is no substitute for love. Aydin Torun
Manhattan: I know that crime and mayhem (along with good local reporting) is the bread and butter of the Daily News, but the paper outdid itself on Page 22 of the March 15 issue: 'Man shot in leg outside B'klyn subway station'; 'Man shot in head after argument outside a fruit stand in Bronx'; 'Teen is shot in butt in Harlem.' There was space for only one more headline and fortunately, it did not include a body part ('Expect weekend outages on 4, 6, 7, A, C subway lines'). Carl Glassman
Brooklyn: With the federal government undoing efforts to address the climate crisis, New Yorkers need Gov. Hochul to show climate leadership. Instead, she's dragging her feet, slowing down progress here. The new federal EPA chief's announcement that he's wiping away everything we know about how burning fossil fuels is making life on Earth more dangerous and expensive is the limit. We're part of Climate Families NYC, and we and our children will be protesting outside Hochul's NYC office on Thursday to let her know how serious we are about rapid climate action. She can implement the long-awaited cap-and-invest program, which would cut pollution and fund climate solutions — with big corporate polluters footing the bill rather than having N.Y. taxpayers cover the cost as we do now. We don't want NYC's children breathing the toxic pollution today's energy system brings, nor do we want to continue paying its high price. Samantha Gore and Laurel Tumarkin
Manhattan: To Voicer Lynn Miller: I have written many letters to Voice of the People and have read thousands. Your letter that FDNY should just smash the windows of any car blocking a fire hydrant to snake their hoses through had to be the best and most useful ever. Raymond McEaddy

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