Tragedies happen when there’s no safety net
Public safety demands more than thoughts and prayers, especially from governors and presidents. It requires leadership, sufficient support and lots of planning and foresight.
Our public safety is jeopardized when a president spouts “fraud, waste and abuse” at every turn and defunds these very agencies and the experienced people who work there with hardly an afterthought. It is crucial that we adequately staff government agencies that protect us all. This is what our social safety nets are designed to do.
Weather disasters like the one just experienced in Texas are becoming the norm, and it doesn’t matter whether our president and his current administration believe in global warming or not. The failings of this president extend far beyond the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He has left no safety net unscathed.
REGINA SMITH, ATHENS
America is becoming cruel
I was really moved by the essay on the Opinion page in which the author noted what a cruel country we may be becoming. (“This July 4, let’s ask: What are we becoming?” AJC, July 4).
She highlighted the ill-treatment we show to immigrants by the way we demonize them, make it difficult to remain here, arrest them and imprison them in terrible quarters. In fact, privately-owned businesses are thriving financially. I thought the photo accompanying the essay highlighted what the author was saying. It was a picture of a huge building, something like a silo serving as a prison. Guards were surrounding the outside of the building.
It seems we are now heading to a new symbol of America. Previously, it was the Statue of Liberty welcoming “the tired, poor, those yearning to breathe free.” Now, it may be a statue of a prison shouting, “You are not welcome!”
As the author asks: “What is America becoming?” What I can’t grasp is how Congress could be so callous.
ANGELO BUCCHINO, SANDY SPRINGS
Dems oppose Trump at every turn
“What are we becoming?” a columnist asked.
We are becoming a nation where the Democrats have nothing to offer but criticism of anything and everything President Donald Trump does. When then-President Joe Biden ordered the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, he didn’t ask Congress to approve it first. When Biden ordered the catastrophic opening of the border, he didn’t ask Congress first.
Should Trump have asked Congress to take a vote, which would let the Iranians know that the bombers were coming to eliminate the nuclear weapons they were planning to build and use to cause their stated “Death to America”?
And when it comes to educating our children, approximately half of third graders across the country cannot read at grade level, but the opposition thinks it’s OK to take up time learning about transgenderism.
I, too, wonder, “What are we becoming?” — but for very different reasons.
JUDITH MCCARTHY, ATLANTA
Georgia’s heat is rising, protections aren’t
Every summer, the heat is worse, but the bills go up and protections go down. We’re living through a climate crisis, and still the Public Service Commission and Georgia Power act as if it’s business as usual.
This isn’t just inconvenient. It’s dangerous. People without air conditioning, older individuals and families with low incomes are suffering the most. However, instead of investing in clean energy or emergency protections, the PSC continues to approve rate hikes.
We need leaders who take the climate seriously and protect us, not just the energy companies. The PSC should work for the people, not against our future.
AUSTIN EDWARDS, ATLANTA
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
