Major corporations stepped up on HB2. Where are they now? | Opinion

Abortion ban

While 200 N.C. businesses opposed the abortion ban and supported the governor’s veto, we’ve yet to hear from the major corporations that took a bold stand against the discriminatory bathroom bill in 2016. Their silence on this equally crucial issue is conspicuous and concerning.

These large companies, operating in a global marketplace, should remember that today’s talented individuals, especially younger generations, have choices. By staying silent, N.C. employers tacitly support a law devaluing half of our population. Their silence could cost us talented individuals, lost payroll tax revenues, and the invaluable contributions of those who’d prefer to work where their rights are respected.

I urge these significant employers in North Carolina to break their silence and actively oppose this law. It’s more than just the right thing to do. Their silence carries consequential, tangible costs that we cannot afford to ignore.

Laurie Ruettimann, Raleigh

Why 12 weeks?

At least Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun’s Roe decision had some substantive basis behind it — the third trimester can mark the potential viability of the fetus outside the womb, and by that point it has a functioning brain stem and produces its own brain waves.

In contrast, the Republican 12-week ban is completely arbitrary — it denotes neither the beginning nor the end of anything other than when a woman loses her individual freedom and becomes a ward of the state.

That Republicans would make such an arbitrary decision is, however, precisely the point of their legislation. Its arbitrariness is meant to remind women that it’s the men who are in control — they make the rules — even when those rules are capricious and cruel. Most any date will do for that.

Leo Sadovy, Wake Forest

NC Bar

As a member of the N.C. Bar Association, I am deeply disappointed by the decision to cancel the drag event. This sends a message in stark contrast to its stated commitment to promoting diversity and opposing discrimination based on gender identity or expression. We shouldn’t grant a heckler’s veto to those wishing to limit human rights, dignity and equality. We need to stand with our colleagues. An organization that champions diversity and inclusion should be prepared to stand firm in its convictions.

James Charles Bryan, Chapel Hill

Tax cuts

We have seen round after round of tax cuts in recent years for the state’s businesses and its wealthiest citizens. At the same time, we have seen actual tax increases for many low income people in the state. For example, taxing things like utility bills, haircuts, etc. actually raised taxes for the poor.

Now our legislature is proposing another round of tax cuts for the rich. At the the same time it proposing radical legislation that would have taxpayers subsidize the private education of rich children.

It is great to be rich in North Carolina — not so great if you are poor.

Walter Weathers, Durham

NC health care

It’s safe to say that 100% of Republicans in the legislature oppose anything that even vaguely resembles the British single-payer National Health Service, but they seem determined to push us in that direction (“NC Senate: Tie hospital licenses to State Health Plan savings,” May 17). They threaten to close urban hospitals that don’t cut costs enough to suit them.

Cut costs too much, and eventually we’ll see nurses striking to get their well-deserved pay raises and emergency departments turning away all but the worst cases — like in Great Britain. Hospitals will delay getting updated equipment, causing even longer wait times for the best care — like in Great Britain. Heck, why not just adopt single-payer for North Carolina and be done with it.

Bill Erwin, Durham

Sen. Tillis, the debt

In an email to Sen. Thom Tillis, I urged him not to allow a default. In his response to me, he noted that there has been out-of-control spending: “For too long, Congress has failed to rein in reckless spending, allowing our federal outlays to dramatically exceed revenue.” Does he need to be reminded that he voted for corporate tax cuts during the Trump era?

Instead of only focusing on where to cut services from hard-working Americans, how about also looking at increasing revenue from corporations. I benefit from my investments in these organizations, but I don’t have to benefit so much at the expense of my fellow Americans. Large corporations have been doing quite well of late.

Janice Woychik, Chapel Hill

Compromise

Though a conservative at heart, I’ve registered and voted unaffiliated for over 20 years. If Congress and the president do not get their heads together soon, we are on a path of fiscal irresponsibility for sure. President Biden’s “line in the sand” will not stand and he should stop. The root platforms of both parties are rising to the surface of this slugfest with a need for compromise. I predict the House speaker will not yield to Biden and will gain political points over the short term. Biden will finally yield, as Obama did, or else the stalemate will fall at his feet for the 2024 elections. And maybe that is exactly where it ought to be. The people want a balanced budget in Washington.

Theron Few, Raleigh