Tuesday's letters: Lawmakers could take pay cut to save Social Security, Medicare

Lawmakers should cut their own pay

I found the Feb. 9 letter, “Gaetz has no empathy for the needy,” very interesting regarding Rep. Matt Gaetz wanting to overhaul safety-net programs.

Researching, I had no idea that all 535 members of the U.S. House and Senate make at least $174,000 annually, paid by taxpayers. Most are already wealthy and are just padding their personal worth.

I can’t believe that we who have been working for 30 to 40 years, paying into Social Security and Medicare, now have to worry about having those benefits “sunsetted” and not having enough money to retire.

More:How to send a letter to the editor

My suggestion is that these 535, who work for the people and are paid by the people, consider reducing their salaries to really show their concern.

At their current salary, $174,000, the total cost for Congress is $93,090,000 a year, taxpayer paid.

If lawmakers reduced their pay to $100,000 a year (still a lot) for, say, 10 years, it would generate $395,900,000 in savings to help fund the programs.

Certainly, Gaetz, Republican Sen. Rick Scott, of Florida, and others would like to help the people they serve.

Woody Jones, Sarasota

Let New College students finish year as is

Imagine going to the movies and buying a ticket for a rom-com, but the theater shows a horror picture instead. You’d be mad and demand a refund.

How much worse is it to pay tuition at one of the nation’s most renowned liberal arts colleges and have it suddenly change to a conservative arts college?

More:Board appointees stand in way of New College diversity

If sweeping changes are to be made to the curriculum and other aspects of New College of Florida, they shouldn’t be done until the end of the academic year, so current students can get what they paid for and decide whether to stay another year.

The most important change to be made should be the name of the institution, so former students won’t be tainted by having “New College of Florida” on their resumes when the name no longer means what it used to.Steve Warren, Manatee County

Biased story on Jordan

Once again, the Herald-Tribune put an Associated Press story in your “news” section that was actually an op-ed piece. This time, it was “GOP opens probe on ‘weaponization,’” in which the “reporters” opined about and criticized the House committee led by Rep. Jim Jordan.

The story was an attempt to disparage the subjects. That can be done by citing other sources with opposing views for balanced coverage. But it becomes a problem when the only source of criticism is the reporter.

Then, to make the fakery worse, your paper placed this article among the "straight news" stories instead of in the Opinion section.

Larry Wilson, Venice

Learn to drive in roundabout

I agree with the letter “How-to guide on navigating roundabouts,” published Feb. 8.  I hope it is read by our snowbirds and our full-time, snowy-haired residents, too.

The good of the roundabouts far outnumbers the bad. The bad part is that too many people don’t know how to negotiate them and they complain, instead of learning.

I ask that those who can’t negotiate a roundabout properly, please, for safety’s sake, take another route.

Harmon Heed, Sarasota

Rise up against hypocrisy

Is it 1953? Is it the Joseph McCarthy era? How can the public just stay quiet when book banning has taken hold in our society?

Can you imagine arresting a teacher for using a book not on the “good” list? Our esteemed governor talks about a “no woke” society, yet the hypocrisy is so apparent: banning books, restricting what is taught, stacking school and college boards with only like-thinking individuals.

Related story:Teachers close class libraries, fearing prosecution

As Ron DeSantis rails against the “nanny” society, he has created a “state-governed think tank” where debate can only be a one-way street.

Norm Greenspan, Bradenton

GOP misbehaved at State of the Union

On Feb. 7, a Republican lawmaker who shall remain nameless stood up yelling “Liar, liar” at the president as he delivered the State of the Union address.

And Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, instead of giving the GOP rebuttal to the address, reminisced about a trip she took with former President Donald Trump when she was his press secretary.

There are very fine Republican senators and representatives who could have given a creditable, intelligent response to Joe Biden. Continually repeating “The Democrats have failed you” is not a rebuttal. 

Come on, Republicans.  You need to come together and resurrect your party.

Betty Robinson, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Save entitlements by cutting pay in Congress, change New College name