PBS programming is a wise public investment
Because we raised our children with public broadcast television, they are kind, civil, courteous, educated and successful citizens.
Viewing such programs as “Sesame Street” and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” teaches dignity, human values and civility. PBS is free to all children.
In another blatant act of meanness, President Donald Trump and his Republican minions have acted to defund PBS. It is all part of the endless “waste, fraud and abuse” gibberish that has conned so many.
This, while more and more tax cuts go to billionaires.
It seems as though Trump rarely viewed PBS programs or he would be better mannered.
When it comes to manners and wisdom, we’d be wise to stick with Kermit the Frog.
David Helman, Salem
Trump is anything but precise in ‘anti-waste’ mission
Over the past few months I have had conversations with my Republican, Democrat, and independent friends.
And I can honestly say that none of them are against what President Donald Trump is trying to do about cutting back on waste and fraud. Anyone who thinks there is no waste and/or fraud in US government programs has been living with their head in the sand for a long time.
What most everyone is concerned about is “how” he is doing it — especially when it comes to people’s jobs. One would hope that those in charge would make a huge effort to look carefully at individual cases and use a “scalpel” when it comes to cuts. However, what we have seen is an approach that is more like using a “machete” and cutting everyone off at the knees.
The July 13 Register had a guest columnist named Charles Bruner, who was the founding director of the Child and Family Policy Center (now Common Good Iowa) from 1990 until 2015. His submission should be required reading for everyone concerned about waste and fraud.
Steve Lamansky, Ankeny
Trump seems unconcerned by vendor fraud perpetrators
I read with interest guest columnist Charles Bruner‘s piece “How about going after real fraud and abuse?” Couldn’t agree more with Bruner’s argument that one of the areas the lawmakers should be focused on is “vendor fraud.” Why?
In late December 2020 President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of former nursing home magnate Philip Esformes. Esformes was convicted of bilking $1 billion from Medicare and Medicaid. On May 28, 2025, Trump commuted the sentence of Lawrence Duran, former owner of Florida-based health care clinics. In 2011 Duran was convicted of defrauding Medicare out of $87 million!
The Department of Government Efficiency is focused on picking up “chump change” from unsubstantiated cases of abuse while our president is freeing people who bilked the Medicare and Medicaid systems out of billions. Is there no limit to Trump’s hypocrisy?
Ted Stephens, Cumming
What happened to concern for our Afghan allies?
For five years we have listened to the news media extolling how incompetent the Biden administration was in “the disastrous Afghanistan pullout.” That left those Afghans that fought for us behind.
Now President Donald Trump is sending those “allies” back to Afghanistan to be under the control of the regime they fought, and we are hearing nothing from those who filled the airwaves with their phony outrage.
Ronald Orf, Tripoli
Trump not taking responsibility is poor leadership
Whatever your views about the situation in Ukraine, President Donald Trump’s recent comment that he doesn’t know who made the decision to pause some arms shipments to Ukraine should be concerning. President Harry Truman famously said, “The buck stops here.” Competent executives take responsibility for their own decisions and, at the very least, are knowledgeable about the important decisions of those who work for them.
Dorothy Lifka, Des Moines
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Trump seems unconcerned by vendor fraud perpetrators | Letters
Reporting by The Register’s readers / Des Moines Register
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