Letters to the Editor: Schools reopening, COVID-19 relief, bourbon woes

Schools are for all

A recent Herald-Leader article by reporter Valarie Honeycutt Spears quotes a parent as saying her child is “sad, sad, sad” and another parent suggesting that schools open for the students who do have access to transportation and are not relying on bus access to get to school. This is a perfect example of prioritizing those with privilege and centering them in discussions about the importance of returning to schools.

What if instead, parents are encouraged to keep their students at home and learning online if they have adequate supervision, reliable access to technology, safe options for social interaction with peers, and a full pantry of food, so that kids without those same advantages could return to school?

Our public schools are for all students. In no way should students with personal access to transportation be prioritized over those who do not.

Laura Scroggins, Lexington

Trump, McConnell at fault

A recent Herald-Leader headline read, “Kentucky bourbon exports, down 34%, face new tariffs”. This is the fallout from the Trump tariffs which, like all his businesses, were failures.

Any economist knows that tariffs are ineffective because the other country can impose counter-tariffs. Former President Donald Trump thinks he knows better than any experts. In Trump’s case he imposed tariffs on European steel and aluminum supposedly to help the U.S. auto industry. He doesn’t know that Mercedes Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen all have huge auto assembly plants in Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee, respectively. Those European automotive companies are not importing their cars; they make them here with American workers.

The Constitution specifically states that Congress is responsible for tariffs. So those Kentucky bourbon businesses need to understand that their Sen. Mitch McConnell is responsible for letting Trump violate the Constitution by unilaterally imposing tariffs. It was easy for those affected European countries to impose counter-tariffs where it would hurt Mitch McConnell the most, the Kentucky bourbon industry. Now Kentucky bourbon businesses are still being hurt by Trump’s impulsive actions and McConnell’s unwillingness to follow his oath to uphold the Constitution.

Kevin Kline, Lexington

Filibuster ‘impediment’

Part of the problem with the filibuster was that it was meant as a check against the “tyranny” of the majority over a minority but it was not intended to favor the “tyranny” of the minority over the majority.

Because we have only a two party system that does not allow for a full multi-party system that could well mitigate the power of the filibuster (if there were more competing interest in Congress then a filibuster would be both harder to engage and easier to dispose of), the filibuster as it is now only disposes itself to tyranny and not democracy.

Our Founding Fathers did not imagine a two party system; it evolved over time. A two party system is not at all good enough to be effective towards the ends of representing all the people. More than 40% of the electorate is independent, greater than each individual party in numbers and having nearly enough members to overwhelm both, but independents are unheard and not represented.

The filibuster in a two party system is an icon of a failure of democracy, no matter which party utilizes it. It is just another impediment to consensus and compromise and to getting the work of the people done.

It will be this until the United States becomes not merely a two party system but a multiparty system that allows far more participation and representation of the full electorate.

Robert Moreland, Lexington

Climate policy

What does climate change have to do with the family budget? A lot.

Kentucky will experience even costlier flooding events in a warming world. A warmer circulating atmosphere holds more water which lets loose in heavy rain (or snow).

Besides tragic human costs, there are the costs of leaking basements, power outages, increased insurance, damaged infrastructure, emergency response, and failed crops.

However, effective climate legislation can mean more money for families, and soon. One policy gaining ground is to put a climate pollution fee on fossil fuels and give that revenue in equal amounts to every American. Almost all lower and middle-income families would be able to pocket increasing amounts of money, even after accounting for some increased costs, while our nation modernizes to a green energy economy.

A carbon fee and dividend policy is realistic. Canada already has carbon fee and dividend in effect. Over 86 members of Congress co-sponsored this type of legislation by the end of 2020.

Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, and Reps. James Comer, Brett Guthrie, Thomas Massie, Hal Rogers, Andy Barr, and John Yarmuth need to support this type of climate legislation to help preserve our standard of living. Put the brakes on climate change while helping the economy.

Christine Missik, Danville

COVID powers

A recent headline in the Herald-Leader read “Judge rules in Beshear’s favor, blocks laws limiting governor’s COVID-19 powers”. A few thoughts: 1. This judge ruled that he, not the governor or the legislature, runs this state and that he can base his usurping of power on his own prediction of the horrors that may occur if he does not, in his personal wisdom, step in. 2. He wrongly assumes the legislature would not extend emergency orders that make sense and are not arbitrary and political, like those we have seen. 3. He ignores the tension and need for balance between single-minded COVID actions and other health and economic concerns which the people elected the legislature (not the courts) to address. 4. At least according to the article, he cites no provision of the Kentucky Constitution that was breached by this legislation but depends on his own feeling as to what may happen.

Nicholas Glancy, Versailles

Not representative

U.S. Rep. Andy Barr voted against House Resolution 1, a bill designed to increase voter participation, improve election integrity and security, enhance voter access, stop gerrymandering, and provide public funding for political elections. Barr favors greater restrictions on voter access and opportunity to vote and continued funding of elections by special interest groups.

Barr accompanied his vote with a rant on the House floor, noting because GOP voters believe in nonexistent voter fraud, he must address it. Which problem is bigger: “too many people voting illegally” (<0.00001% of votes cast) or “too few people voting” (currently less than 60% of eligible voters in Kentucky)? Will regulations foisted by radical right extremists like Barr encourage greater voter engagement, or just more voter disenfranchisement?

Isn’t it past time for public funding of elections instead of by special interest groups who often don’t vote for the politicians they fund? Barr continually curries favor with his big donors by writing and voting for legislation supporting their interests over ours. Barr is a representative in name only, not a true representative of his constituents. A phony, giving lip service to those he should serve while serving those that never elected him.

Peter Wedlund, Lexington

Ashamed

In my 98 plus years of living as an American, born in the greatest country on the planet, there had never been a time when I was ashamed to be an American until the verdict to acquit ex-President Donald Trump of inciting the riot on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C.

Senator McConnell voted to acquit Trump, yet McConnell called Trump’s actions unconscionable. It seems that those who voted to acquit Trump were nitpicking — trying to find excuses for acquittal. One excuse used was that Trump was out of office when the vote happened. Don’t actions that are beyond reason and are unscrupulous count after vacating the office?

Democracy is at its worst when someone such as Trump is acquitted and an average citizen is found guilty of following Trump’s call to action.

Ann Allison, Lexington

Voter suppression

Trump’s “Big Lie” didn’t work. U.S. Capitol rioters’ insurrection didn’t work. Donald J. Trump lost an honest election.

Enter 33 states with Republican majorities quickly writing over 165 voter suppression bills in their states; locking down future party wins because losing elections as today’s dictators know would be a thing of the past.

Voter suppression laws to Republicans are their “I Have a Dream” goal.

Will Americans silently watch as Republicans, state by state, steal our Democratic voting rights out of existence? Waiting until the 2022 elections may be too late if people don’t know what the supermajority in Frankfort is successfully pulling off right now. It’s not transparent legislation. It’s pure shameless Republican politics writ large.

Judy Rembacki, Georgetown

Senatorial lemming

John Milton in “Paradise Lost” described Kentucky’s spineless senior Sen. Mitch McConnell: “... hypocrisy, the only evil that walks invisible except to God alone.” God forbid that Kentucky has to put up with this lemming for five and a half more years; he is useless except to D.C. elites. He’s a total disgrace to the history of our great commonwealth. Good riddance to bad garbage!

Robert Adams, Lexington

Aid motorsports

I am requesting that Congress create a grant program to support recreation, sports, and amusement venues that provide live entertainment yet were excluded from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants program (Section 324 of Public Law No:116-260). It is imperative to the future of racetracks in communities across the country that Congress provide a lifeline for live entertainment businesses that have experienced unprecedented declines in revenue as a result of complying with attendance restrictions.

Many small businesses, including family owned and operated racetracks, depend on hosting live events each week. These venues have been devastated by lockdowns and capacity restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, experiencing revenue declines of 50% or more. Ticket-buying customers were prohibited from attending races, and race teams were unable to perform or participate in motorsports competition in the months after the start of the pandemic. Ongoing attendance restrictions continue to threaten many racetracks along with other entertainment venues, which provide jobs and are integral to communities across the country.

Rick Marshall, Fisherville

Race car mods

I respectfully request that Congress pass the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act. The bipartisan RPM Act protects the right to convert an automobile or motorcycle into a race car used exclusively at the track.

Modifying a vehicle into a race car is an integral part of America’s automotive heritage. Many types of racing, including NASCAR, were founded on the premise that street vehicles, including motorcycles, can be converted into dedicated race vehicles. Racing events are an economic driver for many communities and a source of affordable family-friendly entertainment for millions, with participants that range from professionals to novices using converted race vehicles.

Congress never intended for the Clean Air Act (CAA) to apply to motor vehicles modified for competition use only. However, the Environmental Protection Agency maintains that CAA requires converted vehicles driven exclusively on the track to remain emissions-compliant.

The RPM Act clarifies that transforming motor vehicles into race cars used exclusively for competition does not violate the CAA.

Nicholas Young, Winchester