Cut military spending

The article on spending cuts in Saturday’s edition [“Senate Dems offer spending-cut plan,” news, March 5] quotes the Defense Department as saying the cuts proposed by the House “would leave the Pentagon without enough money to meet vital military requirements.” How about some articles on how budget cuts are devastating the vital survival requirements of citizens in this state?

Or also an article about how the director of the Government Accountability Office, director of National Intelligence and others have supported defense cuts proposed by the Task Force on a Unified Security Budget that amount to $55.5 billion, with no sacrifice to U.S. Security?

Let’s bring our billions home!

— Ruth Yarrow, Seattle

Increase taxes on wealthy

My wife and I view with alarm the wholesale cutting of benefits to deserving poor families and people with intellectual disabilities.

Rather than those cruel and draconian steps, let the local and federal governments increase taxes on the wealthy!

Many of us who are fortunate enough to be in that economic situation are willing to be taxed at higher rates so as to preserve needed benefits for the increasing number of destitute families and the mentally ill.

— Martin Paup, Seattle