Tax bill will impact the environment
Solar power, electric vehicles and, in some places, wind are poised to really take off and change the world for the better. However, the tax bill, which is to be voted on Monday, would take away tax credits for these clean, renewable forms of energy. At the same time, the tax bill would give huge tax breaks to oil, gas and coal, and this while the subsidies in America to the fossil fuel industry will costs billions. And that’s not counting in the adverse impacts done to the climate, the landscape and people’s health.
To offset the estimated $1 trillion deficit created by the bill, the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is to be opened up for the biggest drilling project ever undertaken in our country. This strategy has been discredited for not even coming close to offsetting the deficit the Republicans used to say they care about. And, it would destroy a vast wild area Americans should be proud about. If enough people call their representatives in both houses to protest, then the tax credits for renewables and ANWR might be saved, along with our climate.
Back and forth politics
The Alabama election has proved one thing: When it comes to assuming the high moral ground, both parties are the same. They employ morality as a cudgel and use it only when it situationally suits them. Each tries to claim the high ground when they feel they can get a leg up on the opposite political party. While they all run for office, telling us, “they have our best interests at heart,” the truth is they will do almost anything to stay in power, and therein lies the problem ... the almost anything. We now exist in a “winner take all, my way or the highway” world of political thinking. Political empathy is gone.
Neither Republicans nor Democrats listen to the other side; they just outshout each and, as a result, they, and we the people, are doomed to continue this slide into a civil war mentality where contempt, ridicule and outright hatred replace reasonable discourse. All one has to do is listen to the shouting matches and crosstalk of CNN or Fox News, which are now the unofficial public relations agencies for each party. Our children and grandchildren’s future rests in our hands, folks.
Competitive race
Regarding “Female candidates look to Alabama as sign of hope” (Dec. 14): The Chronicle published an article on first-time female candidates that included discussion of the CA-04 Congressional race. As a resident of CA-04, I was pleased to see the coverage, but I was very disappointed in your characterization of a district that includes both Tahoe and Yosemite as “pretty Alabama.” I was also surprised you did not recognize that this is a competitive race within the Democratic party.
You failed to even mention Regina Bateson, also a first-time female candidate. She is the strongest challenger to Rep. Tom McClintock, the Republican incumbent, and is well-positioned to win in 2018 with over 500 volunteers, full-time staffers and excellent fundraising. Bateson is an extremely qualified candidate who grew up in the district, graduated from Stanford, received a Ph.D. from Yale and served as a Foreign Service officer in Guatemala with the State Department. I encourage you to invest a little time and energy learning more about this race and about this district that contains so many public lands beloved by all Californians.
Lumps of coal for GOP
With the Federal Communication Commission’s decision to end net neutrality rules and Congress about to pass its “tax cuts for the rich” legislation, Washington, D.C., is giving the average American two big lumps of coal in his or her Christmas stocking this year. To which I say, “Bah, Humbug!”
List all the names
As a public service, please list on the front page the names of each member of Congress and their decision the day following any vote on the GOP tax bill. Because the bill’s contents appear so destructive to the residents of California, and our congressional delegation is capable of torpedoing the giveaway without assistance, we will need to know exactly who to blame.
Mobilized community
The vote for Doug Jones is not a mystery or miracle: It is the direct result of the mobilization of the African American community, despite the efforts of the Republican party to curtail voting rights. The vote clearly was split, including among woman, with 98 percent of African American women and 93 percent of African American male voters voting for Jones. White women, even in the face of Roy Moore’s allegations of sexual abuse of children, still voted in droves to maintain white supremacy (63 percent of white women voted for Moore). Therefore, the Democratic Party needs to wake up, pass legislation to destroy institutional racism and become advocates for the end of national structures such as policing tactics, incarceration, housing, employment and education that continue to create a great divide in the United States. Changing these institutions will also positively impact poor white communities as we create institutions to end inequality.