Letters: On law and order, Panasonic loss, U.S-Taiwan relations, Lake Hefner water
Has the GOP abandoned law and order?
Why are Oklahoma politicians using the kind of rhetoric that threatens our law enforcement? Isn't the GOP supposed to be a "law and order" party? In statements about the legal and warrant-supported search of former President Trump's Florida residence, Rep. Mullin questions whether the FBI "has earned the trust of the American people" and Rep. Cole suggests that the agency was used "for political purposes."
As members of Congress, they should be setting the record straight, not planting questions and creating distrust of an agency that captures terrorists, and investigates crimes ranging from human trafficking and child pornography, to fraud of the elderly and the illicit drug trade. The FBI helped to take millions in illegal drugs off the street in Tulsa just last week. Why no praise from Mullin and Cole for those actions?
The raid in Florida was legal, with a warrant approved by a judge, and has revealed that the former president kept highly classified information — of which should not be removed from secure locations — in an unsecured basement in his residence, including (possibly) information about nuclear capabilities. Cole and Mullin have made no statements about this disturbing truth. Instead, their election-year rhetoric has been of the dangerous kind — the kind that inspired the OKC bombing in 1995. (Cole since has discouraged doing "anything untoward" regarding the FBI search of Trump's residence.) Unfortunately, Putin and Xi Jinping are laughing from their armchairs.
— Brenda White, Edmond
Why Panasonic chose Kansas
Watching the recently televised Mullin/Shannon "debate" should help a lot of Oklahomans understand why Panasonic chose Kansas.
— Hank Ryan, Norman
Dialysis patients need expanded coverage for leftover costs
In 2017, I had a below-knee leg amputation, during which it was discovered my kidneys had deteriorated. These health crises forced me to undergo physical rehabilitation and begin dialysis treatments for my kidneys. While receiving dialysis, I started writing my book on navigating midlife, which was a form of mental therapy.
My book discusses my triumphs and trials as an amputee on dialysis. One of the struggles that I faced, and other kidney patients do as well, is covering the 20% of dialysis that Medicare doesn’t cover. Kidney patients under 65 don’t always have access to private insurance or Medigap plans to cover these leftover costs. This coverage issue is something I am passionate about fixing at the federal level.
I have had rewarding conversations with Congresswoman Stephanie Bice (R-OK-5) about this problem facing kidney patients and how we need Congress to do something. I am an avid supporter of the Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion Act, which expands access to Medigap plans to kidney patients under 65 to cover the total costs of dialysis. I strongly encourage Congresswoman Bice and other representatives from Oklahoma to co-sponsor this legislation and pass this bill.
— Darren Lyons, Oklahoma City
Do Lake Hefner and Oklahoma River share water?
Doesn't the water from Lake Hefner go to the Oklahoma River and the Boathouse District? It looks like there is plenty of water for the kayaks. How does it fit into the Level Lake Plan?
— Ben Gadd, Oklahoma City
China will continue to act against a democracy-oriented Taiwan
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan offers a glimpse of what interacting with the Indo-Pacific might look like if more of the region falls under autocratic control. What would that mean for Oklahoma and the United States?
The Indo-Pacific is the fastest-growing region on the planet, accounting for over half of the global economy and seven of the 15 biggest economies. A technology driven economy like the United States relies on companies and factories in the Indo-Pacific to maintain growth and progression. Further, it is important to keep these markets open for American goods.
Beijing responded to the visit with live-fire military exercises and suspending cooperation with the U.S in areas like high-level military talks, cross-border crime, and drug trafficking. Communication is key to peace, prosperity, and stability; breaking it in this way is the geopolitical version of “taking the ball home.”
China’s vision for the region is the opposite of “a free and open Indo-Pacific” — the U.S. foreign policy aim emphasizing freedom and human rights. Taiwan shares these goals, and, so long as it continues to show the billion plus Chinese citizens that life without autocratic rule is possible, China will continue to act against the island.
An Asia largely controlled by Beijing is less likely to be amenable to U.S. interests. To prevent that, the U.S. must work with trusted allies like Taiwan and Japan to keep the Indo-Pacific free and open.
— Gen. Robert Lo, director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Houston
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Letters: On law and order, Panasonic loss, Lake Hefner water
