After watching the presidential debate, I have to ask: do any of the participants care as much about the U.S. as they do about becoming president?

Do any of them care about the welfare of those of us who are already here, and have been here for generations, legally? Do any of them know where we’ll get the money to provide quality health care for all, $15-per-hour minimum wage, free college and more other than admitted socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, who stated without blinking that our taxes would go up?

Do any of them understand that “charity begins at home” and that what they espouse has been the ruination of many other countries? Do any of them understand that we’re more than $22 trillion in debt right now?

Anyone want to guess who holds the majority of that debt? We do! Most headlines focus on how much the United States owes China, one of the largest foreign owners. What many people don’t know is that the Social Security Trust Fund, also known as your retirement money, owns most of the national debt!

Sure, open the borders and make crossing illegally a misdemeanor. Let em’ all in!

And if the democratic hopefuls are able to follow through with their campaign promises, do you really think any of them will suffer the consequences as we (the American middle class) will?

— Kathryn Dews

Salisbury