Rainy day is here, governor
Gov. Greg Abbott should add the Legislature’s recently rejected bill to improve emergency response and evacuation procedures to the agenda of the special session. The bill’s initial $500 million cost drew heavy criticism from Republicans, including state Rep. Tony Tinderholt of Arlington, according to The Texas Tribune.
“This shouldn’t be about anything other than the fact that it’s a half a billion dollars,” Tinderholt said during the April 1 House floor debate.
Governor, we are waiting for you to be an advocate for all Texans, not just your donors who persuaded you to push for $1 billion for private school vouchers and reject funding for poor kids’ summer lunches.
Opinion
With a double-digit, billion-dollar surplus and overflowing rainy day fund, it’s time to tap that money for needy Texans as billions in damage and lost lives devastate Central Texas. That rainy day has arrived, Gov. Abbott.
Bernard Diemer, Saginaw
Warning sirens sought
Flash floods are similar to severe weather events in that they are difficult to accurately predict, are relatively uncommon and cannot be prevented. But the effects of each can be mitigated by warning systems.
Many Texas cities and towns have very loud sirens to warn those nearby that severe weather seems likely to strike. Siren warning systems have proved to be efficient and effective tools to reduce the loss of lives from destructive tornados.
A system of warning sirens in towns along rivers could provide similar benefits for areas prone to flash floods. State government funding assistance could allow even the smallest of towns to install flash flood warning sirens.
While there are certainly other, more expensive ways that better mitigate the human loss to flash floods, sirens could greatly help reduce these losses at a reasonable cost.
Lash Hansborough, Denton
New court system a mess
Re: “Ongoing pattern of punishment — Some jailed for weeks too long due to office systems that don’t communicate, paperwork,” Sunday news story.
We had the best system at the courthouse which was taken away and replaced with the worst. FORVUS told everyone when someone was arrested, charged, seen by the grand jury, when the case was set and how the case was disposed of on one simple-to-read page.
We have a new system that lacks information and is a jumbled mess. And now, because of it, people are in jail longer than they should be. They are right to sue.
Ann Thornton, Dallas
Honor election results
The July 4 ad “We hold these truths” explains all the rights and privileges that we as Americans are given by the Constitution. One paragraph stood out to me. It was: “In a democracy, voters elect their leaders, and elected candidates make the law. Our democratic republic functions best when Americans accept, honor, and respect election results.”
This ad was signed by many prominent Democrats. They never accepted Donald Trump as our 45th president nor have they accepted him as our current president.
They have fought with him continuously. And the media is just as guilty by helping them in their efforts to take down a duly elected president.
They don’t like Trump (why such hate?), but he’s their president just as he is ours. It’s time for them to be quiet, let him continue to do what we elected him to do and work on their own failing party.
God Bless America.
Mary Virginia Snow, Dallas
Can’t handle lies
It’s less about unconstitutional actions and unethical profiteering. Or even about policy decisions, however bizarre, unbalanced and arbitrary some may be.
It’s the repeated, bold-faced lying that has me feeling that I cannot trust this president or any of his sycophants. The answer to every lie is “fake news,” denial, schoolyard taunts. I see black, and it is called white.
The response to challenging a blatant lie is to defame, slander and insult those who query. The world’s despots have used the same tactic to gain power and quash those who challenge them.
Meanwhile, congressional Republicans have the stage to call it out but are instead silent. Embarrassingly, distressingly, malignantly silent.
Intermixed with the lies are elements of validity and truth, enough to produce sound bites that drown out the lie upon lie. We could judge policy on its merits, were it not surrounded by a moat, rather a sea of lies.
I’d feel better if I heard “I know these are lies, but I still think that he is good for the country.” Instead, more often it is a double down on the lies and an active effort to obscure the facts. Because if you challenge the despot, you find yourself in a world of pain.
Peter Stack, Dallas