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Vote yes on Prop. 50
to foil Trump’s policies
In the past 10 days, President Trump has demonstrated why Californians must vote for Proposition 50, which he opposes.
Trump has:
• Released an AI video of himself wearing a crown while flying a jet and defecating on Americans.
• Demolished the East Wing of the White House after promising he wouldn’t.
• Pursued a payment of $230 million in taxpayer dollars to himself.
• Told GOP lawmakers not to negotiate on escalating health care premiums, keeping the government closed.
• Authorized the murder of people in boats in international waters without even presenting proof of illegal activity.
• Had his crony-filled Justice Department indict his “enemies” on flimsy charges.
• Talked about ending Social Security and Medicare.
• Bailed out strategically unimportant Argentina and American billionaires with a $20 billion credit line while impoverished children die due to his cuts to USAID.
• Continued deploying unneeded armed forces to Democratic cities.
Vote yes on Proposition 50 to stop Trump’s insanity.
Jim Boots
Danville
Prop. 50 would worsen
underrepresentation
Is Proposition 50 really about “saving democracy”?
Nope. In 2010, Californians passed an initiative to assign congressional redistricting to the citizens redistricting commission created by an initiative two years earlier.
Now, Proposition 50 would reverse that reform, giving congressional redistricting power back to politicians. Gov. Gavin Newsom claims it’s “temporary,” but Proposition 50 would impact 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections and probably last forever.
Today Republicans hold nine of California’s 52 U.S. House seats. If Proposition 50 passes, that could drop to four, despite 38% of California voters choosing Donald Trump in 2024.
California’s population has remained flat since 2020, while Texas has grown by 2.7 million people — reason enough for Texas to redraw its districts.
The only “King” rigging elections is Newsom, who is willing to sacrifice fair representation — and throw 5.8 million registered Republican voters under the bus.
No to gerrymandering. Vote no on Proposition 50.
Carolina Yunker
Albany
Trump accomplishes
what 9/11 couldn’t
Re: “East Wing is torn down” (Page A1, Oct. 24).
The images of the demolition of the East Wing of the White House remind me of 9/11. Our own president is achieving what terrorist Bin Laden failed to do — destroying the premier symbol of our nation and democracy. In its place will be a disgusting vanity project: a gigantic ballroom designed by Donald Trump for him and his friends that will overshadow the integrity of the historical White House. It’s not his palace to manipulate as he pleases; it’s the People’s House.
The National Commission and Congress need to stand up to stop “King” Trump from destroying what’s left of America.
At a time when most Americans are struggling, and government programs, agencies, research and jobs are being slashed, it’s an abomination to build a symbol of corrupt opulence by and for billionaires. This destruction shows that we don’t have a president but a domestic terrorist in the White House.
Mikki Norris
El Sobrante
Newsom must protect
state’s coastal waters
Most of the world’s megacities are located in coastal areas. This close proximity to coastal areas has been associated with better quality of life, and enhanced mental health and well-being due to reductions in stress, improved air quality, relaxation and physically active lifestyles, increased social interactions and spiritual connection to the ocean.
However, human activities are harming the ocean’s health. From kelp forests declining to unintentionally catching and killing marine wildlife, we as a global community are endangering a resource that we’ve relied on for countless generations.
We have to stop unsustainable marine practices immediately. We can do so by expanding Marine Protected Areas and upgrading State Marine Conservation Areas and State Marine Reserves.
I urge Gov. Newsom to uphold his commitment to conserving 30% of California’s coastal waters by 2030.
Arjun Jadhav
Berkeley
GOP voters must shake
‘rural consciousness’
If rural Americans voted based on self-interest, they would support Democrats. Republicans want to cut Democrat-supported programs that benefit rural states: Medicaid spending, SNAP (food stamps) and school lunches. Donald Trump is also cutting subsidies for solar farms and wind turbines — subsidies that disproportionately go to red states. Now he wants us to buy Argentine beef.
Furthermore, because rural areas have lower incomes than urbanites, they pay relatively little of the taxes that finance these programs.
Yet economic self-interest seems to have been swamped by “rural consciousness” — the belief that those of us who live in cities don’t understand or value rural culture and rural lives. Unfortunately, there is some truth to this. Urban dwellers are unlikely to fully understand the attachment of rural Americans to a particular place and its time-worn rhythms of life. Our bad, but Democratic policies nonetheless do help the heartland much more than Republican stinginess.
Jim Wolpman
Walnut Creek
