We lose
Re “Getting ready for school: Hampton Roads parents should expect some changes” (Aug. 7): Let me see if I can understand this: Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and his Republican minions are working hard to give corporations a tax break, which they don’t need, while allowing the sales tax holiday to expire last month?
Although not a major tax break, parents have looked to this “holiday” for years to get their children ready for the upcoming school year. Countless parents in this state count on that holiday, and too many small retailers do the same.
This is the same Republican governor who is traipsing around the state claiming to care about “everybody in the commonwealth”? It’s getting to the point where each and every time Republicans open their mouths claiming to “care about everybody,” the only everybody they really care about is their Republican base, corporations and their wealthy Republican Party donors. The masses of everyday working folks lose each and every time, and we see what’s happening each and every day.
Billie Montgomery-Cook, Portsmouth
17th Amendment
It’s time to remove the 17th Amendment from our Constitution. We should not elect U.S. senators. The original Constitution required the state legislatures to elect senators to have them represent the state. Virginia has two senators who represent Northern Virginia and Richmond. Sadly, both senators vote in lockstep with liberal philosophy. Let us get back to the belief that when senators are not representing the people, they could be replaced. Wake up America, we can do better.
Dick Jones, Virginia Beach
Trump’s plan
Re “Trump eyes more presidential clout” (July 18): Former President Donald Trump has always had designs to become a wannabe dictator and with the aid of his associates he will strive “to alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government,” according to the New York Times article.
If elected, not only would Trump endeavor to bring independent agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission, under direct presidential control, but he would also reinstate the practice of “impounding” funds, “refusing to spend money Congress has appropriated for programs a president doesn’t like — a tactic that lawmakers banned under President Richard Nixon.”
But, he wouldn’t stop there. He would stop at nothing to remove all obstacles that would stand in the way of his agenda, including the removal of officials in the intelligence agencies, the State Department and the defense bureaus who he “has vilified as ‘the sick political class that hates our country.’”
Gerald and Ron Newman, Norfolk
Women voters
I cannot express how angry it makes me that certain people think they should have an opinion on my private life. I am talking about abortion. I cannot express how frustrating and sad it makes me that commonsense gun safety laws cannot pass. Our children are afraid to go to school. That should break everyone’s heart.
I plead with Republican women to stop this by not voting for any Republicans. With your help, we can say loudly, as written by Helen Reddy and Ray Burton, “I am woman, hear me roar.”
Margaret Williams, Virginia Beach
Homicides
Re “No. 1 threat” (Your Views, July 7): The letter claims white supremacists are our nation’s greatest threat but provides no data because there is scant evidence.
This is evidence: Using FBI statistics, Black people make up about 14.2% of the U.S. population and commit roughly 49% of homicides. This has been true for decades but ignored by a progressive media determined not to expose the effects of the collapse of the nuclear family.
Sanger Burk, Newport News
