Letters to the Editor for Wednesday, Feb. 27

PHOTOGRAPHER: Letters to the Editor

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Find the money to fix infrastructure

The GOP is already pushing back on spending a trillion dollars on improving our infrastructure (repairing roads, bridges, airports, etc.) due to the GOP $1.0 trillion deficit. “It will cost too much; we cannot afford it,” GOP congressmen are saying. Isn’t that “rich.” This is the same group that thought nothing about giving away $1.5 trillion mostly to corporations and the rich that has not been used to benefit anyone but themselves.

So if it will take a trillion dollars to upgrade our infrastructure, where do we get the money? Here’s a thought. If we rolled back the GOP tax cut to 28 percent (Remember it was cut from 35 to 21 percent), we would get back half a trillion dollars.

Further, if we changed the tax law and require a minimum tax payment (after all normal taxes are paid and deductions are taken) by corporations like Amazon, which had a $12 billion profit last year and will get a $129 million refund this year, we could generate hundreds of billions of dollars more. Then to make up the rest of the needed funding, the feds could increase gasoline taxes by 10 or 20 cents per gallon, since gas is so cheap and we should start weening ourselves off fossil fuels to help with combating climate change. There would likely be excess revenue generated and available to reduce the deficit.
Raymond Harris
Scotia

Evaluate Trump’s policies by his ego

So, to be clear, mystifyingly, our president unilaterally withdrew from an agreement with Iran and our European allies, though his own intelligence agencies agreed that Iran has been in compliance, which is in line with what those same European allies reported. That agreement was a promise with Iran and our allies, an agreement on behalf of the American people, our word to the world.

Yet, with North Korea, which actually has and tested nuclear weapons, even threatened the United States, he tells us that he “is in no rush” for denuclearization. He even asked Japan to nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts with North Korea.

I believe that focusing on Trump the man, or any of the personalities of politicians for that matter, is ultimately divisive and a waste of time. In looking at how our president is making policy, it seems that it’s all about ego. Iran was done by President Obama, and Trump’s goal has been to undo President Obama’s accomplishments, while pursuing his own ideas, regardless of whether it’s good policy, even as defined by his own departments.
James Cimino
Schenectady

Keep a close eye on cable price hikes

Watch your cable bill closely. Our January bill was $193, and our February bill is $282, an increase of $89. Never did I receive a phone call, email or written notification that my bill was increasing by $89.

My January bill had a note stating “Your promotion is ending, but your savings will continue. As a valued customer, we have automatically extended you a new preferred rate.” What kind of preferred rate is an increase of $89 in one month? Five years ago, our rate was $99 a month for TV, internet and phone. Within 5 years, that rate rose to $193 and then to $282. What is going on? The only explanation I was given was that the Time Warner pricing is no longer valid, and the $282 rate was the Spectrum pricing. You can call it what you like, but I call it robbery, I believe this is an illegal practice and have contacted state and federal representatives and organizations. We have changed services and our rate is back in the $190 range, which is still too much.
Robert M. Jones
Hadley

Go back further on black unemployment

I’m writing in response to the op-ed article in The Gazette by John M. Crisp about black vs. white employment rates.

I believe Mr. Crisp is misrepresenting the history by looking back only to 1969. His column claims that black unemployment has been, for the last 50 years, significantly higher than white unemployment, which may be true for that period. I suggest your readers take a look on the internet at articles by economist and author Walter E. Williams, who has written extensively on this subject. One of his articles entitled, “Black Progression and Retrogression,” discusses the decline of the black family and black employment and cites the welfare state and various labor laws hurting black progress, starting around 1950 as the cause.

I quote the following from the article: “Every census from 1890 to 1950 showed black participation rates [in the economy] higher than those of whites.” Black vs. white unemployment increased greatly after 1964-5 when LBJ started the “Great Society,” which he claimed would end poverty in America. Still waiting?
Donald Davis
Charlton