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Letters to the Editor

Right to freedom of speech being trampled

DEAR EDITOR: The first amendment enshrines freedom of speech. The right to voice opinions and simply to tell the truth is essential to our freedom. But the Trump regime distains this fundamental right. The list of its attacks on free speech gets longer by the day: The Associated Press was barred from the White House because the AP Stylebook says reporters should refer to the Gulf of Mexico by its original name, not the “Gulf of America” like Trump wants. Brendan Carr, Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, has started punishing broadcasters for speech ...

Stop scamming people who need help

DEAR EDITOR: I had a problem with my riding mower. When I hit a tree root, the belt came off. It is so sad that we can’t trust anyone to help you when you need help. Because some people you can’t trust our country has lost its love for each other. No love for God or neighbor. My neighbors are great. They help me cutting my grass when my mower was down. One nice, young boy helped me clean the garage out. Two young boys helped cut my grass before the rains came. Two other women helped with cutting the grass, too. I love living in New Middletown. We have great people who live ...

Not so fast about student loans, Cal

DEAR EDITOR: Cal Thomas calls people who have defaulted on student loans deadbeats, and implies many never intended to repay the loan. He compares student loans to car loans or mortgages, but there are several differences. When applying for a car loan the borrower must talk to a loan specialist and qualify for the loan, meaning he has an established way to repay. He walks away with property or a car as collateral. By comparison, the student (often still in high school) is offered the loan with no such qualifications. No parent signature is required and the subject is often ...

Sound off!

State Rep. Tex Fischer has way too much time on his hands if the start time for college football games is one of his biggest concerns. With all that is going on in the state. this is all he has to do? His pay should be docked. Who voted for this person? — Hubbard Instead of telling retailers and their customers to “just eat the difference” of higher prices resulting from his inept, ill-advised, incoherent imposition of tariffs, 47 should eat crow, admit he has raised taxes on people who can’t afford food to eat, a place to live, or means of travel in order to provide tax ...

Democrats need to come up with ideas

DEAR EDITOR: A Mark Twain maxim, delivered by his Pudd’nhead Wilson fictional character, goes “A cat will sit on a hot stove just once, but then he won’t sit on a cold stove either. That cat just hates stoves.” This seems to me like our current political mess. Trump and his cult were the hot stove undecided voters sat on twice. Dems, believing the twice-burned cat (voters) would choose their cold stove, offered, and are still offering, nothing of comfort the cat understands. The cat determines stoves (politicians) all are useless, save for spending their tax dollars, and ignores ...

Watch out for the Grinch this year

DEAR EDITOR: Christmas is coming and with it, the Grinch Tax. According to The Toy Association, nearly 80% of the toys sold in the U. S. are sourced in China. President Trump’s tariff is, in truth, an all-American sales tax on imported Chinse goods. Ultimately, it must be paid by American holiday shoppers. Unless retracted, it could inflate prices up to 25%...the Grinch Tax. The higher skilled, lower paid toy makers in China will not soon be replicated in America. Same applies for Chinese-made artificial Christmas trees, ornaments, lights, and blow-up outdoor sculptures. ...