Letters to the Editor: Do we all breathe a sigh of relief when Ky legislators go home?
Supporting Trump
So let me see if I’ve got this straight. Mitch McConnell, though claiming former President Donald Trump is largely responsible for the January 6th insurrection, insists he would still back him if he was the GOP candidate for president in 2024, invoking an insane logic that he would feel “obligated to support” the candidate of his party. There you have it, folks! Party over country. What an admission! Mitch has just owned up to being one of the “bad guys.”
Charles Edward Pogue, Lexington
Protect Democracy
U.S. Rep. Andy Barr voted against HR 5314, Protecting our Democracy Act. This Act reigns in Presidential abuse of power and adds additional checks and balances, accountability, and transparency to government oversight. Checks and balances, and accountability in government are not partisan issues. Rather, their absence is a green light for government corruption and abuse.
Peter Wedlund, Lexington
Uncomfortable History
Senate Bill 1 is an attempt to limit an elementary or secondary teacher’s freedom to teach about systemic racism. It appears some politicians in Kentucky have decided it would expedient to quash the teaching of history because it’s a history they are uncomfortable with. After WW II, the neighboring communities to the Nazi death camps were herded through the camps to show what they ignored during the war. I imagine it made them a bit uncomfortable, especially since they made the children experience it too. As Germany has shown, a little discomfort can have positive effects. So, for a state that didn’t ratify the 13th Amendment banning slavery until 1976, it appears pretty obvious what’s working here in Kentucky. You would think some historical justice is appropriate for the millions of slaves who died in Middle Passage, for Jim Crow laws (the reason for the Filibuster), for black voter suppression, for lynchings (see Eli Persons, Memphis TN and Jesse Washington, Waco TX) and for overall societal suppression. Do what you will with the vote on teaching history, but history will hang this albatross around your collective necks. Oh yeah, you’ll try – and fail – to rewrite history with bills like SB1.
George Weems, Lawrenceburg
Kentucky’s embarrassment
I don’t want to enter this contest since it is led by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie. The contest is to see who can be the larger embarrassment to Kentucky. Paul had a slight lead by sticking his hand through the door of the Senate to vote no for the latest SCOTUS nominee after making the nation wait an extra 20 minutes. Not to be outdone, Massie voted no on the Ukraine support bill, much to the delight of Putin. Come on Kentucky. We can do better than these two. Please consider things other than the “R” beside their name in the voting booth.
John Meurer, Lexington
COLA Adjustments
Do lawmakers and our Governor really think that State Retirees not VOTE? They’re giving raises to state workers and themselves, while Retiree’s cost-of-living adjustments were taken away 16 years ago. What’s with that? We were guaranteed that. I’m guessing we’re the minority now and we don’t count anymore. Come on, Andy. We’re still living on the same money from 16 years ago!
Donald Fugate, Lexington
COVID funding
How has the influx of federal funds helped the local population in regard to access to affordable housing, access to medical care or transit solutions? I think if you look at these options from the standpoint of those that must utilize them, the options have actually decreased. Is LexTran looking at another service reduction? There are no more options for income-based housing, since Covid began. If you look and see, there are more people sleeping in parks, in the cold, hiding from the police because they are going to be charged with a crime.
With Lextran, Covid brought on a reduction of services. The larger cities realize, this is your work force trying to get to work, but not Lexington. This is the way people go to work. After the reduction of services, I have to look at every shift I work, and think “Can I get there on time? Can I get home without being stranded at the Transit Center with no option home?” If you have ever been at the Transit Center for the last run, it gets really scary.
Leslie Caudill, Lexington
Representation Matters
Think: Russia and Ukraine.
Then think of today’s Republican Party in Congress and the states the party controls. Look at Congress on one side of the aisle: mostly white males. Now, look at the Democratic side: resembling persons on any American city street. Look in GOP state legislatures such as Kentucky: white males.
Those of us who also consider ourselves human beings with human rights – women, Native-African-Latino-Asian-Ukrainian-Americans – fought for voting rights against “whites only,” slowly changing laws to reflect/represent all of us.
Many traditional Republican voters, especially in rural areas, appear to have little idea that current the Republican Party leaders have been working for decades with greedy corporations using taxpayer public monies to rig the game against the working poor, to keep and increase partisan GOP white male money and power no matter what it takes. Even costs such as the violent insurrection to overthrow the free and fair 2020 elections and overthrow our government.
Now it’s become a rolling coup throughout states with GOP legislatures changing laws to intimidate/suppress/purge/nullify votes and voters, plus gerrymandering to give permanent seats to Republicans.
It’s sexism and racism, with special cruelty against children.
It’s authoritarian autocracy.
It’s anti-democracy.
Russia and Ukraine.
Ramona Rush, Lexington
Legislative follies
The legislative follies have ended for one more year with our sage lawmakers making determined efforts to wrest as much authority from the governor as possible. However, they overlooked one critical thing. They forgot to grant the House Speaker and Senate President sole authority to award Derby and Oaks trophies. No doubt correcting this inexcusable oversight will be bill priority #1 for both chambers next year. This means however that their planned priority #1 bill requiring schools and colleges to erect statues of Donald Trump will now be turned into #2.
Jay Hopkins, Frankfort
Legislative session
Is it just me or do lots of other Kentuckians breathe a sigh of relief when the legislative session in Frankfort is over! I would love to believe that each and every legislator goes into these sessions seriously striving to examine and debate the pros and cons of the bills they are submitting, and how they benefit the state and its citizens. Yeah, I would love to believe it; but I don’t. What I see are bills lobbed back and forth between two political parties and whichever party has the majority of votes on the last lob wins! We elect who we call “representatives” to actively act on our behalf, yet I recently read about one prominent representative who stated that he voted his own way regardless how the majority of his constituents felt about the issue. Is that representative? I try to keep up with what is happening during the session, but it is almost impossible for the average citizen to know and understand what bills are in consideration and what is contained in them. So, the session ends with new laws we know very little about, but will now impact our daily lives.
Barbara Rave Plymale, Lexington
Student debt
I cannot understand why progressive politicians want to cancel student loan debt. Like millions of Americans, I had student loan debt and repaid it as I agreed to do. Now the far left feels that we should pay the loans of current borrowers. Once again the standard of “fairness” that the left espouses is shown to be a farce! I also wonder how many of these current borrowers attended a private university when they could have received their degrees at a public university for a fraction of the cost.
William Riffe, Lancaster
Mobility access
Kudos to the wheelchair bound man suing Taco Bell. Those of us who are ambulatory are oblivious to the barriers our disabled fellow citizens face on a daily basis. After my late husband was wheelchair bound, we realized that among the offenders of the Americans for Disability Act are doctors’ offices here in Lexington. One very prominent ophthalmologist, in fancy new Hamburg quarters, is in a building with no automatic door opener. That office offers wheelchairs for their patients’ use, but they are so narrow only Twiggy could fit in them. Another doctor’s office has a ramp to enter the building which to a healthy person is nothing. But try pushing a mechanical wheelchair up it with a 200 pounds in it and it becomes a real barrier. That doctor, however, cognizant of the issue, will send an employee down to push. Rarely did we find enough handicapped spots allowing us to park as close to the entrance as possible. The medical community knows that obesity and old age are rampant in Kentucky, yet many refuse to comply with the law. Expensive? Too bad, how sad. It’s a cost of doing business and the humane thing to do.
Sally Wasielewski, Lexington
Ukraine ally
What our military minds don’t seem to understand is that we have a large, capable, motivated ally in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has committed a large portion of both his army and armaments in his unprovoked invasion. I hope our leaders realize that if we supply them with the appropriate weapons and support we can literally destroy a large part of the whole Russian military in situ. Putin is already begging China for supplies and reinforcements. And on the home front, we should absolutely BLAST so-called Americans like Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones, & Laura Ingram who spread Russia’s lies and carry water for Putin!
Our government acts like it’s helpless to do these things, but we’re not! What it takes is bravery, commitment and the cojones to stand up and take the heat from the slavering jackals (who will howl and attack regardless) and do what’s right. Have we Americans forgotten how to win? I sure hope not. But if that is the case, the Ukrainians are reminding us what guts and bravery and the will to win can accomplish.
James Porter, Danville