Voice of the People (July 28, 2024): Summer meals lost? What did the kids do to you?
Summer lunches lost: What did the kids do to you?
I have rarely been as angry as I was when I read the article about several states, Florida included, refusing federal aid to feed hungry children. [Over 9M kids lose access to summer EBT, July 5.]
One governor’s aide was quoted as saying that federal aid usually came with strings attached. My response to that is, “so what?” After all, these are helpless children who have done nothing wrong. They’re not voting for the wrong party, not taking someone’s job or anything evil. They’re just innocent children who are hungry. Please write to DeSantis and plead that he reconsider.
Sharon Allen, Lake Wales
Voice of the People (July 21, 2024):The waste of Lakeland's new RICE engines
A government right to censor?
“(We) maintain the position that the removal of material from public school libraries is government speech..." so says Gov. Ron DeSantis. [Fla. reaffirms school book ban right, July 5.]
Government speech? No, it's government censorship. The laws on the books protecting our First Amendment rights are to protect us, the people, from government censorship, from the likes of political ideologues such as Ron DeSantis dictating what we can and cannot read, what we can and cannot say.
This is just another example of this nation's drift toward authoritarianism where the government mandates what we can and cannot read.
Richard Sutherland, Lakeland
Voice of the People (July 14, 2024):Presidential immunity ruling is a danger to America
Remember the ‘King of Debt’ promised to reduce the national debt
As our election nears, we are faced with two likely candidates, one the oldest in our nation's history. Which will be the best choice?
The “King of Debt” promised to reduce the national debt — then his tax cuts made it surge. Add in the pandemic, and he oversaw the third-biggest deficit increase of any president, in only four years.
The interest on our national debt now exceeds our defense budget.
No one likes paying taxes, but the sad truth is that if we are unwilling to pay for our priorities, whatever they are, it won't be long, due to growing interest on our national debt and resulting inflation, we won't be able to afford them.
In the third quarter of 2023, 66.9% of the total wealth in the United States was owned by the top 10% of earners. In comparison, the lowest 50% of earners only owned 2.5% of the total wealth.
Last month my electric bill went up $100. Many struggling with higher food and insurance costs can’t afford the effects of climate change. Do we really want to sunset Social Security and Medicare to balance the budget?
Robert Connors, Lakeland
Voice of the People (July 7, 2024):Is this the best of our choices?
Harris should consider an anti-Trump Republican for VP
Democrats went bold this week. It’s about time.
Recognizing that Joe Biden lacks the energy and the communication skills to front this campaign, they allowed him to step down. Beating Donald Trump, they say, is too important.
They are right.
Still, if Democrats were truly bold, they’d recognize that defeating Trump takes more than a shift in standard bearer. Trump has a loyal base, and it will take a concerted effort to defeat him.
The Democrats do not want to look back on Nov. 6 and imagine what could have been.
Thus, rather than choosing from several male governors to serve as her VP, I suggest Kamala Harris select Liz Cheney or Rob Portman or Condi Rice or Mike Gallagher as her running mate. All are Republicans known not to support Donald Trump.
Any one of them (I’d pick Cheney) would create a ticket that epitomized the small “d” democracy of our American Constitution.
A split ticket would allow Americans to combine their strengths and send a message that America will not accept Trump’s authoritarianism.
A sound trouncing of Donald Trump is needed, and the Democrats are boldly moving in that direction.
But they should go the distance.
Ben Graffam, Lakeland
Voice of the People (June 30, 2024):Vote for Florida's right to privacy
Coverage of the Trump hush money trial
I watched both liberal and conservative “news” coverage of the Trump New York “hush money” trial. Based on that experience, one would come to the conclusion that there were actually two different trials.
The only agreement was the verdict, as both sides say that Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts. The 34 counts are for the same thing: falsifying business records.
The trial should have been televised so that the American people could see and evaluate the fairness of the trial for themselves. Just knowing a verdict is not good enough for a trial with such far reaching political implications.
Our president said, “The justice system should be respected and we should never allow anyone to tear it down.” He is the same president that looks for a work-around when the Supreme Court blocked his student loan forgiveness program. I guess respect only goes so far.
Trump's verdict will be appealed, but this appeal will occur after the election. What are voters to do?
Edward McDonald, Auburndale
The dismissal of Trump’s charges
Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of all charges against Trump for stealing America's most highly classified documents for his own sale or aggrandizement shows how those appointed to some of the highest judicial offices in this land are totally unqualified to wear the mantle of responsibility for decisions affecting a nation.
She, like Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, seem lost to the pettiness of party and comrades over conscience or country. So once again, Trump wins but America and the world lose.
It's time Merrick Garland and Jack Smith get serious and charge (in the District of Columbia, not the free state of Florida) Trump and his GOP sycophants with treason for planning and executing a staged coup to overturn the will of the people.
The real sound at the RNC is KA-CHING.
Don Donnelly, Lakeland
Want to contribute?
Send letters to the editor to voice@theledger.com, or Voice of the People, P.O. Box 408, Lakeland, FL, 33802. Submit on the website at http://tinyurl.com/28hnh3xj, or go to TheLedger.com, click on the menu arrow at the top of the website and click Submit a Letter. Letters must be 200 words or less and meet standards of decency and taste.