McIntyre is a losing hand for Portsmouth. Time to fold. Letters

McIntyre is a losing hand for Portsmouth. Time to fold.

July 20 − To The Editor:

I must congratulate Charlie Griffin for stating the obvious. Too often today we fail to state of obvious. The McIntyre situation is a sad one and the blame is not easy to apply. The City Council previous and present bear a lot of this responsibility but the city was never poised or experienced enough to enter into the kind of public/private partnership that they entered into. The stakes were far too high, and the city simply does not have the expertise nor experience to have completed this project.

The pundits blame the developer, The Kane Company, and they are wrong to do so. Kane played with all 52 cards face up and they have proved this, including, but not limited to, releasing private emails with the city, etc. The fact Mr. Jankowski sought an opinion from Holland and Knight was laudable to be sure. But when you hire a white shoe law firm like H & K, one has to be ready to pay. Mr. Griffin’s letter is true. The budget for a fight against the federal government is not cheap and the city has spent millions to date on an attempt to acquire the McIntyre building and has nothing to show for it. The money spent is a total loss to the taxpayer.

While the possibility of a cost-free acquisition is a pleasant thought, it is far from reality. The city needs to seek a second opinion before jumping into bed with Holland and Knight. They would be extremely well represented by that firm to be sure. The fact is that a law firm is engaged to weigh and mitigate the risks of an acquisition attempt using the means suggested and the fact is there is tremendous risk financially. The self interest groups like the one my friend Bill Downey represents can suggest the city open their checkbook but I suggest they open theirs. They claim they are stakeholders in this and therefore should bear the risks as well.

The current council is more worried about their Facebook image and traffic and lacks the municipal and legal experience to begin to weigh and make decisions regarding such an undertaking. My advice is as Mr. Griffin suggests, let this go and move on.

T. Stephen McCarthy

Portsmouth

Commentary on NH policy on gun violence

July 19 − To the Editor

New Hampshire’s current policy on gun violence is to blame it on mental illness.

Meanwhile, our funding for treating mental illness remains inadequate.

We also defend everyone’s right to have unimpeded access to guns.

Does anyone have a better idea?

Bill Kingston

New Castle

Composting is a small action that can make a big difference

July 18 − To the Editor:

Now what really is composting? In short, it is the collection and decomposition of food waste and scraps that can be turned into fertile soil for new and existing plants, completing the food cycle, it is basically controlling the rot of previously living matter. In fact, composting is one of the best things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint and help work towards a cleaner environment.

Approximately one-third of food developed in the world is wasted, contributing significantly to carbon emissions, making composting needed more than ever. Food waste even contributes to about 8% of greenhouse gases. These food scraps not only take up landfill space but also reduces the need for harmful fertilizer and greater water retention in soil. When in the landfill, rotting food scraps releases 50% methane gas and 50% carbon dioxide as the decomposing microorganisms are oxygen deprived.

While many may think they don’t waste an awful lot of food, people don’t realize how much they don’t eat - from the top leaves of pineapples to egg shells all going into the trash to even the greasy pizza box from last night’s dinner. It adds up!

Less than 10% of food waste and scraps get composted, but starting with individual levels to corporate and community efforts, composting can largely impact the Earth and its need for help in the climate crisis. From a pile in your own backyard to using companies such as Mr. Fox, which reaches all around the NH seacoast, there are so many ways that make it easy to compost!

Evangeline Alexander

Dover

Republicans want autocracy

July 19 − To the Editor:

A coalition of right-wing organizations has announced a plan to empower a Republican president (if elected) to control all federal agencies without constraints from Congress or the courts.

As they have explained to journalists, their goal is to get rid of the nonpartisan civil service, purging all but loyalists. They want to impound funds allocated by Congress for programs that are not in line with their policies. "What we're trying to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them," said Russell Vought, who served as Donald Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Republicans currently in the House and Senate do not disavow this plan. It embraces the ideology of Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán, who say the post-WW2 era of democracy is over. They say ideas such as equality for minorities and women, freedom of speech and academic freedom are destroying "traditional" patriarchal society. They want to use the powers of the government to enforce religious beliefs.

Republicans have been pushing laws to restrict women’s rights, ban books, forbid schools and businesses from addressing minority issues, allow people to carry dangerous weapons without a license, and make it hard for opponents to vote.  Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who is forming his own militia, has called for using deadly force against migrants.

Although Republicans complain (without basis) that the DOJ and FBI have been weaponized against Donald Trump and his followers, Republicans openly state that their goal for 2025 (if they win the White House) will be to weaponize government agencies in pursuit of their “conservative” agenda.

In the words of Trump loyalist John McEntee: "Our current executive branch was conceived of by liberals for the purpose of promulgating liberal policies. There is no way to make the existing structure function in a conservative manner. ... What's necessary is a complete system overhaul."

Right-wingers have resented our federal system since the 1930s, when FDR enabled government to promote infrastructure, regulate business, and provide a basic safety net. Those reforms ushered in a period from 1933 to 1981 that economists call the "Great Compression," when disparities of income and wealth were reduced. Since 1982, under the right-wing “trickle-down” philosophy, those disparities have been drastically increasing to the point where the top one-percent have become fabulously wealthy, the middle class is squeezed, and poverty is rampant.

Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene recently observed that under President Biden, we have made "the largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs, that is actually finishing what FDR started." The White House thanked her for this comment, pointing out that President Biden is indeed investing in programs that enable working people to prosper, which he sees as the best way to strengthen the nation − building from the bottom up and the middle out, rather than pursuing a top-down approach that we have seen does not work.

Three messages should be made clear to voters for the 2024 election:

(1) Be aware that Republicans want to create an autocracy.

(2) Recognize that President Biden’s programs are designed to help Americans.

(3) Don’t compare Biden to the Almighty, just compare him to the alternative.

Don Nolte

Exeter

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: McIntyre is a losing hand for Portsmouth. Time to fold. Letters