OTHER VOICES

Question 1

I was disappointed to read your dismissive and superficial take on Question 1 (The Capital, Sept. 27). The amendment would simply allow the legislature to reallocate spending with proposed by the governor but with the total of appropriations proposed.

Contrary to your description, the amendment would not allow the legislature to increase the budget. That means the for any appropriation increased (let’s say for day car slots) another would have to be reduced (say bureaucrat travel.) Moreover, any increase would be subject to line-item veto.

The 49 other states have some version of this system, it is unclear why we should so circumscribe the authority of the branch of government closest to the people. Our current system represents a 19th-century government philosophy rejected everywhere else, and entirely unsuited to 21st-century problems.

The amendment would make public the backroom machinations that now comprise budget passage with and open and transparent process. The Capital should look again at the issue. The time has come for Question 1.

WARREN DESCHENAUX Annapolis

Editor’s note: Warren Deschenaux retired in 2017 as the chief fiscal analyst for the Department of Legislative Services.

Struggling online

I read Kristen Caminiti’s commentary “We should not rush to reopen Anne Arundel classrooms just yet” with grave concern that our school system’s leadership may only be listening to these types of cheerful assessments of virtual learning (The Capital, Sept. 21). After two weeks of virtual learning with our kindergartener, my wife and I are now realizing the true scope of the disadvantages that this form of learning entails.

Despite Caminiti’s optimism, many students, including ours, are struggling. The personal interaction with other students that is crucial for young kids his age has been nonexistent, and the interaction with his teacher (referred to as her son’s “anchor” by Caminiti) is interrupted dozens of times per hour by software glitches, unmuted mics, and frustrated children.

The fact that Caminiti misses is that all students, not just small groups, need in-person learning. Virtual learning is a temporary stopgap, not something that should be “settled into.” With a hybrid option, our young students will get the in-person interaction that simply cannot be replicated by sitting in front of a computer for four hours a day.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools leadership would be doing all taxpayers a disservice if they do not have a plan to safely return students for in-person learning as quickly as possible, especially as COVID cases continue to plummet in the county.

JOHN MILLER Lothian

What we got

This is what we have with Trump, in response to a letter from Jan Cammarata (The Capital, Sept. 26).

A national debt that has increased by trillions since he took office. A trade deficit he promised to end but has grown much bigger. Record job losses. Record unemployment. Record farm bankruptcies.

Subsidies totaling tens of millions of dollars paid to farmers hurt by his tariffs. Tariffs that are essentially a tax on Americans. A border wall that is falling down and was supposed to be paid for by Mexico. Efforts to end the Affordable Care Act and protections for pre-existing conditions, 200,000 COVID-19 deaths and the worst pandemic response in the world. The United States has 25% of deaths and only 5% or so of theworld population.

On the way to record small business bankruptcies if not already there. Efforts to destroy the postal service. Disrespect for veterans and active military. Forced hysterectomies under ICE. Children taken away from parents. Photoshopped photos and fraudulent videos and a poster to honor the military featuring Russian jets as part of his campaign.

ELWYN JORDAN Arnold