Letters to the editor: Kiley needs to reconsider support for budget proposal

As a concerned constituent of District 3, I am deeply troubled by the recent budget proposal supported by Congressman Kevin Kiley, which disproportionately harms vulnerable members of our community while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals. This proposed budget cuts Medicaid and food assistance, putting more than 95,000 residents in our district at risk, including nearly 9,000 seniors who will lose essential healthcare. How can such harmful cuts be justified? Furthermore, more than 32,000 individuals in District 3 who rely on the Affordable Care Act will face premium increases of more than $3,000 annually. In particular, a 60-year-old couple earning $85,000 in our district will see their premiums rise by a staggering $22,560, a 312-percent increase. How can Congressman Kiley justify making healthcare even more unaffordable for families already struggling while cutting taxes for the wealthiest? Congressman Kiley is asking his constituents to bear these heavy financial burdens. I wonder, will he sacrifice his own taxpayer-funded healthcare? This proposed budget would provide billionaires tax breaks while working families and children will face severe cuts to the services they need. Prioritizing the wealthiest individuals over the wellbeing of families, seniors and children is out of touch with the needs of those in our district. I urge Congressman Kiley to reconsider his position and advocate for a budget that truly prioritizes the wellbeing of all his constituents, not just the wealthiest few. Cynthia Oterox Orangevale Placer homeless, and the homeless budget Placer County Supervisor Cindy Gustafson noted in her March 2025 newsletter the county has 702 homeless residing. Further, Supervisor Gustafson noted between local donations, the state of California and the federal government that Placer County has a 2025 budget of $37.2 million for the issue. My concern is this amount equates to $53,000 per noted homeless individual. Noted, the amount is in line with an average individual's income in the county. My concern is who is receiving the funds and their respective budgets. Anyone give me an answer? Thanks, Frank F. Noey Auburn We control our aging, whether we know it or not Inscribed above the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi, site of the sacred oracle, are the words of the Oracle at Delphi, "Know Thyself." This philosophical directive has been for thousands of years the basic doctrine for a successful life. In matters of aging, most people do not wish to think about getting old, of deteriorating and falling apart, of slow degeneration, which many believe is old age, and simply say they do not want to get old; if a person says that and truly believes it, he is passing a death sentence on himself. If one wishes to take the challenge of aging and getting old, then what one does believe and what one learns what to do and how to do it, then that should be one's course to live by to reach old age, healthy and happy and carefully crafted, and not fall apart, losing his life prematurely and willed by himself but thoroughly knowing himself – completely. "Nothing is but thinking makes it so;" that is the individual's reality. He has created his old age with his own mind. So, if one says he wants to get old, he will successfully; and if he says he doesn't, he won't and will die. If one says he wants to age, he will; if he says he does not want to age because he will be miserable, he won't and death is his certain end avoiding old age. So, know thyself, because that knowing determines one's life span and its quality. I have had a marvelous life through every step, and it has only gotten better the older I get with a great-grandson, two granddaughters and a grandson, two fabulous sons and a lovely, highly intelligent and organized wife with whom I travel the world, helping as much as possible all our family and enjoying watching them grow into intelligent, focused human beings is such a joy I really never even thought about. "The end of life for which the first was made" - I am now in the position to finally agree with Robert Browning's words because when I first read these words, I could not imagine a better life. Now I know there is one because I am living it. Jack Sanchez Auburn