I am responding to the letter "Too much Kool-Aid" (Aug. 16) by Justin Ruhge. There seems to be a pattern to his frequent letters and this one is no exception.
First, he insults the person who wrote the commentary he is responding to (Ken McCalip's "Misdeeds in La-La Land," Aug. 9) and then proceeds to spout his dogma and outright lies. He never attributes the source of his BS, but he often quotes Fox Fake News talking points word for word.
He claims MSNBC makes "accusations without substance." I guess he never watches MSNBC or he would know that they have actual reporters who go out and interview real people about real news. As a Fox Fake News devotee, he wouldn't understand the concept.
Then he gets into the Fox dogma: The national debt doubled under Obama. It did not. All Obama did was put the cost of George W's illegal war in Iraq into the budget, whereas Bush had been paying for it on the national credit card, so to speak.
Mr. Ruhge then says that Trump didn't increase the national debt. Absurd! The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that Trump's tax break for the rich will add at least $1 trillion to the national debt. That's 1,000 times $1 billion, or a million times $1� million. And who will pay for what amounts to corporate welfare? We, the middle class and our children and their children will pay.
Now the BIG LIE. "Obama gave away billions of dollars to Iran because they are Muslim." Here are the facts. The Shah of Iran ordered $400 million in military aircraft and paid for it. He was deposed before delivery. The U.S. held onto that money to ensure the return of the captive Americans. Iran then sued in international court for $10 billion to cover interest, fees, etc. When it looked as if we would lose the court battle and have to pay the whole $10 billion, Obama made a deal to give them back the $400 million plus $1.1 billion in interest. This had nothing to do with the prisoner exchange that was going on at about the same time
These are the facts. Unfortunately, Mr. Ruhge cannot say the same. It would appear that he has the same dubious relationship with the truth as Mr. Trump.
