Letters to the editor for Saturday, August 12, 2023
Letters to the editor should be 250 words or less. Include your name and city or community of residence. Guest opinions should be 600 words or less and include a brief summary of the author’s credentials relevant to the topic. Guest opinions may include a head shot of the author. For the Fort Myers News-Press, email submissions to mailbag@news-press.com and for the Naples Daily News to letters@naplesnews.com
Many offer roadside help
This is, I hope, a unifying story for our divided world. On Sunday, two friends and I were heading home from an entertaining matinee performance at the Studio Players. As we headed north on Santa Barbara Boulevard, just before it turns into Logan Boulevard, our driver said, “I think I have a flat tire.” The bumpiness of ride that immediately developed confirmed that idea, and she pulled over to the side of the road. Now the three of us are older women – one on oxygen, one recovering from serious illness and one mourning the recent loss of her husband. We were not close to being able to change the tire by ourselves. Fortunately, we didn’t have to – thanks to many.Shortly after pulling over, a shining knight/general contractor named Dan pulled his truck alongside us, made sure we were all right and guided us off the main drag to a side street. He stayed with us as we struggled through using our cell phones to contact AAA (yes, it took all three of us working separately to figure it out!). Once he was sure help was on the way, he explained that he needed to get home but handed us a business card, saying he lived nearby and we should call if AAA didn’t arrive.As we waited more than half a dozen cars drove by (who knew this side street was such a busy one?!) Almost every one stopped to ask if we were all right and to offer assistance. One even stopped to talk, drove on a bit and then circled back to make sure we were truly okay! But what was outstanding was that these offers came from all sorts of people – black, brown and white; old and young; male and female. They didn’t care if we were MAGA or woke. They simply saw ordinary people in distress and wanted to help. It was heartwarming and reassuring.And then Dan returned, bearing cold waters for each of us! Not long after Ozzy from AAA arrived and efficiently got the tire changed. We were all left filled with gratitude for our fellow human beings.Janina Birtolo, Naples
Private school vouchers
Private school vouchers hurt Florida public school students.
Business groups have noticed the low pay of Florida teachers. Business.org compared the average salary of public school teachers to the average salary for all jobs in each state. Florida average teacher salaries in 2022 ranked 48th in the nation when compared to other jobs in the state. Whereas in the United States average teacher salaries were 11.7% higher than other jobs, it was 4.6% less in Florida.
Data from the Florida Department of Education and the NEA rank the average teacher salary in Florida 48th in the nation. Florida average teacher salaries increase 2.99% in 2022-2023.
Governor DeSantis and the Legislature have been concentrating on increasing funding for private schools.
Experts estimate that $2.5 billion dollars of taxpayer funds will be given to Florida private schools in 2023-2024. According to EDChoice Florida ranked first in the nation for vouchers even before the massive increase to wealthier families this year.
A few days before school started Collier County Public Schools had 170 teacher vacancies and Lee County Public Schools had 362.
Is it time for the Florida Legislature to freeze additional tax funds to private schools until the Florida average teacher’s salary is equal to that of the national average?
Richard Woodruff, Naples
Singularly important election
With seemingly overwhelming evidence of crimes committed by a current presidential candidate and his henchmen and woman, his strategy is the same that he used throughout his despicable life with endless delays. He is hoping to exonerate himself with presidential pardons should he win the 2024 election -- at least the federal charges. This is exactly why voters need to flood the polls next November to assure an unquestionable victory by the Democratic nominee. Even at that, he’ll still claim an unfair election with no evidence AGAIN. This is also why voter registration and turnout will be the keys to finally rid our country of this parasitic disgrace once and for all. Cuffs and a camouflage jumpsuit (orange) would be so delightful to see. Anyone else committing this amount and severity of crimes would have already been subjected to this outcome long ago. Trying not to sound like a broken record but ambivalence for this election is not an option. Make absolutely sure you, your parents, children and grandchildren, if old enough, exercise this most precious right for our citizenry. Think of it like electing an exterminator to rid us of an unwelcome intruder.
Glenn Chenot, Cape Coral
Another definition of 'woke'
WOKE: W…..Wisdom; O…..Openness; K…..Knowledge; E.....EqualOur gov has his own version of WOKE. I would suggest another definition, letter by letter.WISDOM seems to be lacking for the gov. His behavior in the past few months bears this out so clearly. Would a wise man deny women their health choices? Would a wise man attempt to rewrite our history? Would a wise man remove a DA who twice has been duly elected?
OPENNESS would have been welcome when the gov decided to limit women's health choices in the dead of night with no press or public around.KNOWLEDGE: He's got lots of smarts but doesn't give students the right to any facts other than his version. Did he ever tell a teenager not to read a book that might have sexual content and then watch that teen run to the nearest copy of said book? Does he really think kids learn sex in school?EQUALITY: Our gov's actions favor a privileged class of Floridians. Take a look Gov. We are all colors, sizes and shapes. A rainbow of color right here in Florida. We all plan to vote. Ohioans just did.
Barbara Levatich, Naples
Reality of climate change
Every day our newspapers have another story like "Climate change and Hurricanes: Cape Coral singled out in a new study" by Mark Bickel on May 9. The article details facts and data from First Street and Moody's Analytics concluding that Florida is the number one state at risk for climate disasters. Despite that, Governor DeSantis rejected $377 million in free federal funding that would give Floridians rebates for making their homes more energy efficient to fight the climate crisis. Furthermore, as revealed in the article in Scientific American on August 7 by Scott Waldman, the DeSantis Department of Education has approved climate denial videos in schools that spout climate disinformation and distort climate science. Floridians cannot afford to have politicians and policymakers who refuse to accept the reality of climate change and reject taking actions for abatement.
Katherine Sutherland, Winter Haven
Ban The Bard
Some of Florida's school districts are considering banning some Shakespeare's works from their curriculum. Some of his works may be inappropriate for children. For example:
"Romeo & Juliet" -- Two teenagers from warring families fall in love then commit suidide."Hamlet" -- Hamlet fakes madness, talks to a skull, then kills his stepfather, mother, most of the rest of the cast and himself."Merchant of Venice" -- Jewish antagonist is sued, loses all his money, and is forced to convert. Antisemitism."Taming of the Shrew" -- Wife beating."Julius Caesar" -- Caesar's best friend leads a cabal of assassins. He stabs Caesar in the back. Maybe a life lesson."Titus Andronicus" -- Titus fools two friends into eating human remains then kills them. Cannibalism.Are these the lessons we want to teach our kids? Pass the salt.
Ira Linzer, Naples
Petition on abortion rights
Ohio voters just successfully defeated an attempt by their state leaders to require 60% of voters rather than a simple majority to vote for proposed constitutional changes. This was achieved in a specially called election designed to affect the outcome of an upcoming election that will determine whether to establish a constitutional right to abortion. As is true nationwide, Ohioans are pushing back against dangerously restrictive abortion laws.Floridians have a chance to do the same. Since July 1, abortions after six weeks of pregnancy have been illegal here. Concerned citizens are proposing a constitutional amendment to legalize abortion up to the point of viability, as determined by the patient’s health care provider. They are doing so by signing a petition prepared by a group called Floridians Protecting Freedom. By the end of this year, 900,000 petitions from registered voters must be collected. Please go to floridiansprotectingfreedom.com to download and print a copy of the petition, sign it and mail it to the address provided on it. Once this proposed amendment is on the 2024 ballot, at least 60% of the voters must vote for it — unless our Legislature attempts to hastily raise that threshold, as the Ohio Legislature just unsuccessfully did.
Patricia Duncan, Bonita Springs
Why support Trump?
As a former Republican of multiple decades, I would like to thank Mr. Vigliotti for his post: "America on trial."
He states the facts and asks the pertinent questions all Americans should be pondering, especially those considering Mr. Trump as our next president. My question to the entrenched supporters of Mr. Trump: Why? Why would you continue to support such a flawed individual. If you continue to do so, you simply can't have America's best interest in your heart.
Ron LeDonne, Naples
Voting against our interests
We’ve had minority rule in our country for some time; many voters just didn’t notice until Roe v Wade was overturned, and states got busy passing, in effect, total bans on abortion. Most Americans don’t support these bans but have long voted for candidates who do. Most Americans support sensible gun control but frequently vote for candidates who receive millions in campaign cash from gunmakers and have no intention of backing the gun control measures most of us want. A clear majority of Americans want the government to vigorously address the dangers posed by climate change, but most candidates are in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry that will oppose meaningful action until the last barrel of oil is taken from the ground.
We have got to stop voting for candidates who are on the wrong side of issues we care about. Marco Rubio is an excellent case in point. He supports these abortion bans and doesn’t do more than pay lip service to gun control and climate change. He’s part of the problem, yet he easily wins re-election.
If Republicans do well in the coming election, we will certainly witness a bill imposing a federal ban on abortion, and we can forget gun control or action on climate change. What we will see are ramped up attacks on LGBTQ rights and voting rights, again, actions most Americans oppose.
Ray Clasen, North Fort Myers
Solution for undocumented
Possible solution for workers without socials. Years past the IRS gave $7,500 first time home buyer credits. They had to be paid back $500 per year, usually from refunds on their 1040. So why not give the nice undocumented workers, without criminal records, a Social Security number. For this, charge them $10,000. The legal immigrants paid roughly that amount to get here the right way (immigration legal fees). OK well the right way might need to be changed a little. Then each year when they file their 1040's they must pay back $500 a year, most likely from their refunds. Why do this? They are here, they do the jobs the legals sure will NOT do, they are not criminals, their children are most likely legal. The fact that this system is still as it was decades ago, is silly. Everything has changed, TV, phones, paperless world, space travel. A new system needs to be ADDED. Not replacing the current system. But an additional path. If we force them to leave, we break up good families and then who will do their jobs while we wait many years for them to do it "the right old way?"
Brigid Soldavini, Naples
Bidens get rich
"Bidenomics" definition: The citizens of our nation get poorer. The Biden family gets rich!
William Eggers, Cape Coral
Price of inflation
Please older Americans, Democrats and Republicans write the paper and tell your story about living conditions brought on by inflation. Joe Biden is old enough to know better than to present a spending program that we cannot ever pay for.Here’s my story. It’s before the Squad and socialist leanings. It's 1980 under Jimmy Carter. First, we had rising house prices, then gas prices as we were buying from Saudi Arabia. Next inflation jumped to 10 percent. In order to buy anything your interest rate became 18 to 20%. CDs were paying 10%. Foreign countries and the average American lost total confidence and faith in our government. In order to buy a lot for a house in 1989 I paid five interest free payments to the owner over five years and he sold the lot to me for half price. That’s how bad it was, and it took 30 to 40 years to dig our way out of that situation. Please note the savers who retired and never wanted to be in the stock market have been forced in because banks pay nothing for a CD. Government offers no encouragement for the savers who were brought up to be independent and to pass on values to provide for their own future and for future generations. It looks like history will repeat itself.Roger Donald, Naples
Governor's woeful reaction
The edict by our state Department of Education (DOE), at the behest of Governor DeSantis, that middle school students be taught that “slaves developed skills” for their “personal benefit” is hardly a novel thought.
The insidious view was articulated as a basis for legitimizing the institution in the dreadful ruling of the Supreme Court in the infamous Dred Scott case, which constituted one of the major precipitants of the Civil War by its ruling that barred restrictions on slavery. The Court’s majority opinion reasoned that because they “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect,” a Black person was “reduced to slavery for his benefit.”
The notion of slavery as a “benefit,” thus, has a long and an enduring lifespan, embedded in law back then and converted now into an instructional tool here.
In the midst of the furor, with Blacks and even elected officials within his own party protesting, Governor DeSantis had a chance to rise above the morass by admitting his mistake, apologizing for the ill-conceived DOE mandate, and ditching the directive.
But, instead of taking the high road, he doubled-down, blaming Vice President Kamala Harris for creating the controversy. His woeful reaction reflects his innate narcissism and dubious character.
It takes a big man to acknowledge when he is wrong, show contrition, and repair the damage.
By eschewing any of these steps, our governor, regrettably, showed that he is a man of small character as well as stature.
Marshall H. Tanick, Naples
Challenging, interesting times
Given the choice of keeping his army or resigning his command and probable execution at the hands of his enemies for crimes they claimed he committed while in office, Caesar crossed the Rubicon, precipitated a civil war and established a dictatorship in Rome.
It is often said that history repeats itself.
If it is possible, when a new president takes power, to prosecute the former president of the opposite party for what his political enemies consider to be crimes he committed while in office, no future president will be safe from legal prosecution after leaving office. Nor will our country be safe from any president who loses an election and does not want to face that situation.
That precedent is moving forward now. Trump faces 78 charges currently, some incidents occurred while he was in office and all charges are brought by Democrats.
We handled the Trump Jan. 6 fiasco. How would we do with a really smart president who lost an election, who still had the reins of power and preferred maintaining power to a post presidency facing jail?
Hopefully the Supreme Court will save us but it is going to be a long and bloody slog of human weakness and bad judgment till then. We live in interesting times.
Bob Stabile, Bonita Springs
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Saturday, August 12, 2023
