State surplus should cover Medicaid expansion
With a $16 billion surplus, the state has plenty of resources to implement Medicaid expansion, like 40 other states already have.
The expansion will cover over 400,000 hard-working Georgians, create an estimated 60,000 jobs, and bring in over $3 billion in excess revenues -- all for an estimated $400 million investment. Why would a state with some of the worst health in the nation not see the benefits of Medicaid expansion?
MICHAEL E. MCCONNELL MD, ATLANTA
Ukraine will not survive with Trump as president
The two-year-old Russia-Ukraine war has settled into a World War I kind of stalemate because of the approaching harsh winter and the stalling of Ukraine’s recent offensive, mainly due to its increasing lack of airpower, ammunition, artillery, and troops.
While his army also suffers from a deficit in war materials and, reportedly, low morale, Putin knows that all he must do is hold on until Ukraine runs out of money and ammunition, especially if the United States stops its aid to Ukraine in the face of Republican opposition. Then, he could simply keep the land his army already occupies or mount a major offensive to gain more. His job will be easier if Trump is elected because of his repeated declarations of praise and admiration for the Russian dictator. Since few Republicans dare challenge their orange messiah, Trump’s election could very well seal Ukraine’s fate.
LUCAS CARPENTER, CONYERS
Reducing entitlements necessary to lower debt
The connection between George Will’s article about neither major party being able to realistically deal with the deficit and Patricia Murphy’s Sunday article about people leaving Congress is straightforward. For years, bipartisanship worked when the credit limit was not close to being met. Increase an entitlement? No problem. Fund a foreign war? Same. Only now, when the debt is becoming unworkable, has being a member of Congress ceased to be fun. As the numbers (that are potentially catastrophic) don’t lie, expect this trend to continue and to expand.
The people need to learn of the gravity of the situation and then demand action for Congress to act. Effective action will require reducing entitlements, something the public must accept for there to be a “soft landing.”
ALLEN BUCKLEY, ATLANTA
Taxes not well spent during Trump’s term
Will Donald Trump and the Republican Party he dominates really save the taxpayers’ money? During his presidential term, the national debt increased by some Seven trillion thirty seven billon dollars. Yet the border problem wasn’t solved, and a pandemic ran rampant. Is that your taxpayer dollars well spent?
MIKE WEST, MARIETTA
Focus of birding should include saving species
Nedra Rhone’s recent article in Metro (Dec. 17) informs us that the American Ornithological Society has decided to change the names of more than 100 species of U.S. birds, as many were named after people who may have held racist views. The aim is to encourage more people of color to engage in birding, like Dorrie Toney, who gains so much pleasure from watching our feathered friends. Although some view these name changes as very commendable, others believe it is an unwarranted change of history.
Perhaps before embarking on creating confusion with new bird names, the American Ornithological Society should be far more concerned with the very distressing report provided by the Audubon Society (a name now blacklisted) that more than half the birds in the U.S. are in very serious decline with some in danger of becoming extinct.
COLIN MASON, ATLANTA
