Social Security reliance for the common people Do you know anyone who lives on their Social Security checks without other income? If you don’t, there are millions of elderly and disabled people who are depending on that check. Because I worked for a small community social service agency, I have se en the faces of those who absolutely depended on that check. Those retirees who do not depend on it to keep themselves off the street receive a check, having paid into the system since they began working at 18. Earned. I guess folks with a net worth of around $1.5 billion or so may have trouble grasping that fact. Howard Lutnick is our newly minted Secretary of Commerce. On the “All-In” podcast, he felt the need to offer his opinion even though Social Security is an independent agency. He commented that if his 94-year-old mother-in-law did not get her check one month, she would not complain. She would just imagine that something had gone wrong and she would get it the next month. And then he intimated that the only people who would complain were the fraudsters. Just an aside —  do you think that Lutnick could reach deep and help his mother-in-law out if she didn’t get her check? It is disgusting that a cabinet secretary would call anyone who called about a missing check a likely criminal. It’s shocking and frightening to see what is happening with the degrading of Social Security. In order to eventually privatize? Everyone should care and everyone should let Congress know how very much they care. Judith Pettibone, Denver Give senior homeowners a break There has been talk in our state legislature to make a change to the length of time one must reside in the home to qualify for the senior property tax exemption. Currently, seniors must reside in their home for at least 10 years to qualify. Many of these seniors want to downsize their homes, as their kids have grown up and moved out, and they do not need as much space. Seniors are being penalized for wanting to move to a smaller domicile. With the need for more family homes to be available for purchase, and young families who want to buy those homes, by allowing the seniors to retain their “senior exemption,” many seniors might be more willing to downsize. Can this be the year both parties put aside their differences and vote to make the change? At age 74, I can only hope. Mark Stahl, Hartsel We’ve made our bed With Donald Trump’s election victory last November, America pretty much made its bed, wouldn’t you say? Personally, I am not happy about it, but it is what it is. Furthermore, the chants we hear for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others to resign over Signal Gate are premature. The cabinet members were just confirmed; we need stability, not more chaos. Let’s face reality. Tariffs are going to happen. Right or wrong, Elon Musk will continue to force firings and other disruptions. But we voted for all of it, whether you accept it or not. So let’s take a deep breath, keep fighting for our beliefs, and maybe put a little more thought into that next trip to the voting booth. Gary Rauchenecker, Golden Strangers and paramedics to the rescue downtown While leaving the exciting Sanders/AOC rally, I was sitting on my walker while my husband pushed me down the sidewalk. We hit a bump, stopping the walker. I was dumped on the sidewalk and he fell atop me. The walker bent in half and was totaled. Passersby rushed to help us and we were very grateful. A moment later, Denver paramedics were by our side and were wonderful. We tried to call Uber but none were available. The paramedics stayed with us the whole time. We were resigned to walking but the paramedics arranged for a vehicle to take us to the light rail. At 80 years old and a bit shaken up, we again were grateful. The kindness of strangers and the professionalism and caring of the paramedics turned a bad fall into a heartwarming experience. Our faith in the goodness of people is restored. Jill Van de Water, Highlands Ranch Government, local and federal, must track its spending Re: “Denver still isn’t tracking expenses, city auditor says,” March 22 news story Denver Mayor Mike Johnston excuses his administration’s lack of proper accounting because, as the story reported, “many contracts and outside agencies.” That sounds like the cause of the problem, as we have seen in recent DOGE disclosures, on the federal level. Spreading gobs of money to non-government agencies and other outside players is begging for malfeasance. The question here is, who is making out on this deal? Jonathan Williams, Denver Related Articles Letters: “Staggering incompetence” regarding U.S. official’s chat messages Letters: Constituents resort to questioning a cardboard cutout of Colorado Rep. Crank Letters: God may forgive cop-killer Raul Gomez-Garcia, but we will always remember Letters: How about a Mark Kelly/Jason Crow ticket? Letters: Don’t come after Tesla cars, owners or staff Trump is weaponizing persecution, Colorado Dems shouldn’t follow along Re: “Pro/Con: Should Gov. Polis grant Tina Peters Clemency?” I don’t always agree with Krista Kafer, but I find it encouraging that she and some other conservatives choose to retain their ethics and intellectual integrity and shun the new right. And what a nauseating display of blind partisanship by Mike Davis. He makes Tina Peters sound like a well-intentioned Girl Scout who made an inadvertent miscalculation. She was convicted of multiple felonies. No, Mike, Trump does not champion the ending of weaponized prosecution. During the election, he was quite up-front about his eagerness to retaliate against his enemies, and he’s always been open about his wish to jail Liz Cheney and her fellow Jan. 6 committee members. The Trump administration will stand firmly in contrast to the culture of the Garland DOJ that energetically prosecuted the Jan. 6 goons but also cut no slack to Hunter Biden. Mesa County District Judge Matthew Barrett is not unlike other judges. He takes into account the odious nature of a case. And there can’t be a more odious public servant than one who violates the sacred public trust. A sad sight. Davis and his once honorable party are now apologists for charlatans. One can only hope that nothing will interfere with this charlatan remaining ensconced in her new home for the full nine years. We’ll see. Scott Newell, Denver Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns, editorials and more. To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail. ...read more read less