Letters to the editor for Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Public school funding

Collier County Public School students scored impressively on the required 2023 state testing.

47 out of 50 CCPS schools earned an A or B rating. Great teaching! Florida public school teachers should be commended for their success amid adverse conditions. The defunding of Florida’s traditional public schools while promoting public tax funds to private schools and corporate for-profit charter schools has been clearly established. While Florida ranks #1 nationally (Ed Choice) in public tax dollars for private schools (many religious), it ranks near the bottom in funding public schools. A Bus.org state by state study of average teacher salaries compared to other occupations ranks Florida 48^th in the nation.

Governor DeSantis proposes increasing educational per pupil funding a mere 2% ($174).  The Naples Daily News reports that Florida has a significant shortage of teachers, bus drivers and other educational employees.  Enrollment of educational majors has declined dramatically. Is the educational employee shortage being exasperated by the governor and extreme political groups falsely declaring critical race theory is being taught and that teachers are indoctrinating students? Will book banning and the uncertainty of legal teaching guidelines hinder creative classroom lessons?

Will the 2024 Florida Legislature continue to explore ways to further defund traditional public school students’ education? Is it time to freeze funding for private schools until public school teacher salaries reach the national average? Is it time to require applications for new charter schools to demonstrate a clear population need and a unique curriculum? Parents of public-school students need answers.

Richard Woodruff, Naples

Climate crisis

The past year was annus horribilis (a terrible year) for our planet. The hottest year on record was 2023 and every year in this century is included in the top 25 hottest years. All sorts of man-made, not natural, disasters are caused by the increasing heat. Rather than talk of climate change, it is more appropriate now to call this a climate crisis.

Americans who are very self-centered care little about people in poor countries suffering from droughts, floods, excessive heat, wildfires, etc. They show a bit of sympathy when climate disasters occur in the U.S., but only for a short time.

What is astonishing is seeing my fellow Americans who are parents and grandparents unconcerned about the future environment. They support Republican politicians who care little about the climate crisis in our country, in our world. Imagine the world your descendants will be living in around 2050. Are you doing anything today to make that a better future world?

Jim Douglas, Naples

Access to Sanibel

The bridge to Sanibel was not built until the early 1960s. Before then boats and ferries were used. Someone could make money ferrying people, workers, tourists to the island. There's a nice ferry from Pine Island to Cayo Costa as a current example. There could also be a tram to take people to work, school, beaches. Employers could make that a benefit for employees. A park and ride could be built on the mainland as well.

Sharon Provinzano, North Fort Myers

MAGA Republicans

Nikki Haley was recently quoted saying "normal people aren't obsessed with Trump." So MAGA Republicans, her and Trump's voter base, are not normal? Who knew (besides everyone else)? I won't vote for her but absolutely agree with her on this point.

Wilburn P. Reed, Fort Myers

Why are immigrants needed?

A recent contributor posted a lot of numbers about where immigrants are coming from but she never explained just why America needs more immigrants (America needs immigrants - 12/13).

She said America has a population of 334 million so is there a particular number of immigrants that she thinks we need? Does she realize that the number of immigrants entering our country illegally are overwhelming social services in the border states and in sanctuary cities?

She's going to have to be a little more specific when she says "Bottom line: America needs immigrants a lot more than immigrants need America."

Rick Manuel, Dade City

Congress must act on debt

Washington is broken.  Politicians spend 40 percent more than revenue.  Debt is expected to reach $50T shortly.  Each taxpayer will owe $200,000 of that debt. This crisis needs addressing.

Politicians (both parties) ignore reining in spending.  A devalued dollar and prolonged inflation is at risk.  Debt interest payment today is $1T, more than our defense budget.  CATO Institute’s Romina Boccia research identified a way to reduce spending and stabilize debt. 

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) was created to advise presidents and Congress what defense bases should be closed without Congress actively voting to close them.  BRAC gave recommendations to the president who passed them to Congress for review.  If within 45 days there was no House and Senate disapproval it became law.

The bipartisan Problem Solver House Caucus proposed a BRAC type commission to review and recommend how to reduce both spending and debt.  This fiscal commission, made up of economic, public finance, health care and retirement security experts, would review all spending, including entitlements, and tax expenditures.  Recommendations would be verified by the GAO and CBO before being sent for presidential approval then forwarded for congressional scrutiny.  Recommendations become law in 45 days unless both House and Senate disapprove.

Prior failed fiscal commissions relied on congressional members to reduce spending.  A BRAC type fiscal commission is a failsafe approach to put pressure on Congress to act.  Contact Congress to support this fiscal commission and include it in the budget being voted on in January.

Frank Mazur, Fort Myers

Religious hypocrisy

Just when we thought things couldn’t get worse in Congress, they have. Republicans choose Mike Johnson to be speaker of the House, a man who is a religious hypocrite, having just compared himself to Moses in the Bible. He and other Republicans call Trump the “Orange Jesus.”

Nothing could be more insulting to a real Christian.  Obviously Johnson has forgotten the teachings of Jesus.  They should take his Bible, put it in a basket and float it down the Mississippi for a true Christian to find.

Speaker Johnson is a liar himself, and supports the biggest liar, con-man and crook in America − Donald J. Trump.   Trump doesn’t have a religious bone in his body, and has conned millions of Christians, mostly evangelicals.  He wouldn’t know where a church was located, unless it was on the way to a golf course.

I’m an Air Force veteran during the Korean War, and, in my opinion, any veteran who would vote for Trump in 2024 has a serious head problem.

Trump is a coward who received at least three deferments during Vietnam, because of bone spurs in his feet.  I believe the spurs are located in his small brain. Trump called U.S. soldiers killed and buried in Europe during World War II suckers.

He called America hero John McCain a loser, because he was shot down and captured in Vietnam, spending six years in prison.  Trump also wanted four-star Gen. Milley's execution for protecting America.

Speaker Johnson was one of the architects of the Jan. 6 insurrection in 2021, and he voted NO on the certification of President Biden’s election; that is treason to me.  Now he wants to blur faces on a video of the insurrection, so as to protect the criminals from prosecution by the FBI and DOJ.

E. L.  “Bud”  Ruff, Naples

Happy holidays for who?

Who are the happy holidays for?  Those  citizens whose funds and well-being are squeezed by inflation?  Those families and loved ones who lost those thousands to drugs brought across our border, that Biden swore an oath on his inauguration to protect?

Those true citizens forced from their homes.

Those thousands of women who now have mental problems or second thoughts after aborting their fetuses.

Instead it is the radical Democrat leadership that is happy with the progress dividing our citizens, destroying the constitutional values that protect Americans. Happy with the deceit and repeated untruths, hoping they are believed, if said enough. Even the "progressives," big tech; really as socialists, are gleeful. The big sanctuary cities, satisfied with the increase in homelessness, crime, filth as supported by their mayors and councils.

Burke Cueny, Naples

Investigate shell companies

Sunday's paper on page 38A had an article that is truly investigative journalism. It described in detail a shell company owned by Rep. James Comer, who is one of the high profile role players in the Biden impeachment investigation. We know the name of the shell company, the ownership, what is in it (land), where the land came from, when it was formed, the initial and current value, who it was purchased from and for how much and where it was located. Now, could we also have a report on the shell companies in the Biden family with similar details? You would think that since it involves the family of the president of the United States that this would be something an investigative journalist would investigate and report. The absence of such a report seems to indicate that there is something improper involved in these shell companies.

Ron Wobbeking, Naples

Keep Trump out of office

One of the many reasons why former President Trump should not be permitted by the voters to return to the White House is the way he and his minions mishandled the COVID pandemic.

For those with short  memories or whose recall has been blurred by the lingering effects of the affliction, along with their senses of taste and smell, while in office, the ex-president bungled the disease through his customary coterie of denial, degradation, distractions, and other dilemmas.

That behavior ought to give voters pause when considering his return to haunt his old haunts if other crises emerge, such as a catastrophic climate event, a nuclear conflict, another rampaging disease, or other existential  threat.

The deadly way his administration dealt with the last crisis provides a picture of how it would handle the next, and it’s not a pretty one.

The way that ex-president botched the COVID crisis is far from the only reason to keep him away from the White House, even for the unveiling of his portrait, if there were one. He would probably insult the artist and try to monetize the painting.

But, the reasons are replete for his not being re-elected. To paraphrase a line in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s famous 43rd Sonnet, “let me count the whys.”

Marshall H. Tanick, Naples

A political construct

On May 31, 1956 Ahmed Shukairy, the head of the PLO, announced to the UN Security Council: “It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but Southern Syria.”In 1977 PLO spokesman Zahir Muhsein made a statement that should be heeded today. In an interview with the Dutch newspaper Trouw he declared, “The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. … There is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people.”So “Palestinian people” is no more than a political construct. As well as “Palestinian state.”

Jude Richvale, Bonita Springs

Let's rally together

I have to admit, I don't know what we are fighting for anymore. I do know we are fighting amongst ourselves more viciously than at any time in my life.  Can anyone tell me what we are fighting for?

The patriots fought for freedom; the North fought for freeing the slaves. Indiscriminate wars were fought against England, Mexico, Spain, and France over expansion on our soil. Those fights shaped the 19th Century.

The 20th Century was a boom. From energy, cars, steel, and trains, to the internet and beyond, an expanding world was at our fingertips. We cheered when we landed on the Moon. We cried at the horrible assassinations of MLK and the Kennedys. We tore our country apart over civil rights, we rioted in the streets of Watts, and we demonstrated for the war to end in Vietnam. Looking back, all those things became the glue that held us together. Was the pain, the mortar and we are the bricks?

I guess the enemy has always thought to be outside of our country. We had the World Wars and Korea to rally around, not so much Vietnam. We lined up against The Kremlin and the cold war, we now kowtow to China and Iran. Inside our country, we allow millions of undocumented people with little culture tied to ours. And the internet allows every corner of the world inside including porn, warped social media, and podcasts meant to shock rather than to inform. All of these elements have been turned inward as part of a strategy to rally the masses. It has created division and segregation, it has placed a wedge between friends and family, and it has turned religion into a hoax and replaced it with climate change.

We need something or someone to rally around. In times like these, I suggest you start with your family and friends. Let's rally together and make this Christmas season the best ever and roll into 2024 believing in each other. That's a start.

Jack Holt, Cape Coral

Compelled to endorse Haley

First the Mouse, and now college football? It's like another wild conspiracy investigation is underway. Now please pay heed my fellow Americans; using government agencies as a weapon is alive and well here in Florida! Now can you imagine if DeSantis, gains the presidency? Harkening back to the radical '60s; would we become the United States of "Amerika"? I fear so! I do not endorse candidates for president in a primary very often; yet now I'm compelled to do so. GO NIKKI!

Robert Jenkins, Naples

Antisemitism on campus

So the president of Harvard University, Dr. Claudine Gay, gets to keep her job after exhibiting hypocrisy and failure at the recent congressional hearing on antisemitism on college campuses. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik asked Dr. Gay “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules of bullying and harassment? Yes or no?” Dr. Gay answered that it depended on context.

When considering how to address the Harvard president’s disturbing response, the Harvard Corporation stated “we today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University.” In addition, about 700 members of Harvard’s faculty came to her defense. It is a certainty that if there was a call on campus for genocide of another group, (e.g., African Americans, Muslims, LGBTQ+, etc.) there would be a great outcry (probably dismissal from the university) against those calling for the genocide. Some questions need to be asked. Does the Harvard Corporation believe it is alright to call for the genocide of Jews? Do 700 Harvard faculty members believe calling for the genocide of Jews is acceptable? Did Dr. Gay manage to keep her job because she is a Black woman? It sure looks like antisemitism in its worst form is acceptable on the campuses of some of our most elite universities.

Allan Pilver, Naples

Legal mess

To me it seems this country has an almost total legal mess on its hands. It takes years to bring someone to trial, and if convicted, appeal their sentence and even if convicted again it takes many months before they are jailed. Everyone is suing governments, individuals, businesses and organizations. All these cases tie up the courts for years. Then we have the problem of severely unequal justice depending on which court is selected. In Florida the state courts are nothing but yes men appointed by the governor so the state uses them as an excuse for justice. Right-wing southern courts (the 5th Circuit) are referred all controversial cases and bring down many controversial opinions reversed by a conservative Supreme Court. Something needs to be done to fix this mess. A nonfunctioning Congress needs to act.

Benjamin Glick, Naples

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Wednesday, December 27, 2023