Trump proposal smells of hypocrisy
Donald Trump plans to put a 25 percent tariff on Fords that are built in a new plant in northern Mexico. However, I strongly suspect he greatly welcomes Kia to LaGrange, Hyundai in Montgomery, Alabama, and various BMW plants because they bring high-paying jobs to American soil.
How is this any different from Mexico welcoming high-paying jobs from Ford, built in Mexican soil?
DON G. WHITE, ATLANTA
When will we grow tired of gun deaths?
A state legislator is arrested for DUI while carrying a gun; a community activist is shot and killed in his front yard; a former professional football player is shot and killed in a road rage incident and the victim himself was carrying a loaded gun in his car. Day after day, week after week, the AJC chronicles deaths by guns in the area, in the state, in the country. The general attitude seems to be: if it isn’t me, or someone in my family, gun deaths are not important. Daily, the probability increases that each of us will know someone tragically killed by a gun. The present rate nationwide is approximately 90 people a day. When is enough enough?
JAMES C. COOMER, NORCROSS
Health care a responsibility, not a right
Regarding the letter (“We must protect uninsured Georgians,” Readers Write, April 17), I feel sorry for the patient that had bone cancer. But health care insurance is not a “right,” it is a personal responsibility. The ACA has been on the books for five years, and this patient should have taken advantage of it. Instead, it looks like he shirked his responsibility to do so, and unfortunately paid a high price for not taking advantage of the program.
If you follow the Bernie Sanders campaign demand for free health care for all Americans as a “right” (as in every other industrialized countries), try to remember we have 330 million people in this country, and 45 percent of them don’t pay taxes. In those other countries, everyone pays taxes at a lot higher rate than we do here. And one reason our taxes are lower is health care is an individual responsibility.
JIM COURSEY, MARIETTA
MARTA should be part of transit plan
The November transit referendum gives Atlanta citizens the chance to create the transit system they deserve. MARTA should prioritize improving service for the thousands of people who already rely on it and building new ridership for thousands more. As a first step, MARTA should greatly increase the frequency and quality of bus service. Frequency – reducing waiting time between buses - drives ridership growth more than any other factor. It means a mom can spend more time with her kids or get to work more reliably. Improving connections between where people are coming from and where they want to go attracts new riders. It makes jobs and services accessible to those who most need or want them. There are two high-priority rail projects. Connecting the Lindbergh station to the Emory and CDC campuses by whatever partnership necessary would cut travel time and reduce the vulnerability of these high-density destinations. The Atlanta Streetcar’s low ridership can only improve if it connects along the BeltLine to the growing concentrations of jobs and housing around Ponce City Market. As the recipient of the referendum proceeds, MARTA is the only logical implementer of a comprehensive transit plan that covers such geographic, jurisdictional, and technical scope.
MIKE DOBBINS, ATLANTA
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