America has a billionaire problem

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and other Founders would be alarmed that President Donald Trump has decimated democracy with his billionaire connections. Specifically, he:

• Accepted $288 million from Elon Musk before the 2024 election

• Appointed Musk (a quid pro quo?) to dismantle dozens of U.S. programs benefiting children and others

• Appointed a billionaire-based Cabinet many times wealthier than any in history

• Appointed other billionaires to manage U.S. agencies

• Appointed his billionaire son-in-law as an unskilled Iranian war negotiator

• Welcomed large contributions from billionaire oil and defense CEOs

• Welcomed other billionaire donors to a White House dinner

• Picked a vice president who became a U.S. senator after being propped up by a billionaire's funding

• Has Russian and Saudi Arabian billionaire buddies who are dictators

• Has close contacts with billionaire newspaper owners

• Was a friend of near-billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein for at least 15 years

• Condoned billionaires influencing the Supreme Court

• And his billionaire buddies make frequent assaults on our Constitution

According to Wikipedia, there are no billionaires among the 535 members of Congress; conversely, Trump’s Cabinet has 13 billionaires.

Does any European king have more power than Trump? Thomas Paine, a long-time friend of Franklin, might bluntly say it should be "Common Sense" to everyone that the U.S. is now a billionaire-based monarchy, not a democracy.