Where is the leadership?
Voting
Regarding “Debate over state’s election bill heats up” (A3, April 7)”: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blasts American Airlines for not reading the bill before speaking out against it. How many state senators read the entire bill before voting on it in the middle of the night? If he wants support for this bill, present it to the voters of Texas, showing what each provision will prevent, along with evidence that any of this is even a problem. After all the court cases across the country last year, all the hours the Texas attorney general’s office spent searching for voter fraud, what proof is there that election security is such an emergency? Is this really more important than preventing more deaths in the next power grid catastrophe?
The fact that Patrick refuses to discuss the reward he promised for anyone uncovering voter fraud and the cases that Pennsylvania’s Lt. Gov. John Fetterman presented, all cases of illegal attempts to vote for the GOP candidate, is telling. It shows that Patrick doesn’t really care about election security, only job security. He doesn’t want to win more voters, only block the “wrong” voters.
When I go to the polls, I will not forget that Patrick felt voter suppression was more important than fixing the power grid and protecting the lives of the people he’s supposed to represent.
Jean Tanner, Houston
Regarding “Tomlinson: That’s rich. Party of big business wants CEOs out of politics,” (B1, April 7): It seems that voter ID is one of the main complaints of all those who wish to rework voting laws. My question is why? Shouldn’t a citizen be required to show proof that he is, indeed, the person listed on the register and that he is a citizen of the precinct in which he is voting? And why does such a requirement disenfranchise a given portion of the population? How do they survive if they have no ID? Over the past few months I have been required to present a photo ID to cash a check, rent an apartment, be admitted to the hospital, sign in for a visit to the doctor’s office, sell an automobile and other personal property, have some papers notarized and even pick up a book that I had checked out from the library. And there are those who oppose the same requirement for voting?
That doesn’t make sense.
Kent Marshall, Sugar Land
Forward thinking
Regarding “Biden plan jump-starts Hobby rail focus,” (A1, April 3): It is sad that we continue to miss opportunities to look forward in our transportation solutions by overlooking rail while we pour more concrete. Comparing Houston to New York City and Paris, and their density and transportation needs, is without merit. Let’s compare Houston to another large city with similar density that has embraced rail, Dallas, Texas. Even Los Angeles is building rail.
As high-rise residential buildings continue to fill our skyline and density, we ignore rail at our peril. Has anyone noticed that most all promotional pieces on Houston show our glossy trains running down Main Street to make us look forward-thinking? Where is our leadership on this issue?
George W. Hawkins, Houston