Political Violence
Going back to 2016, Donald Trump said at one of his rallies, “he could shoot somebody on 5th Ave., and wouldn’t lose any votes”. Shooting someone might be an outrageous statement, although Mr. Trump is known for spinning negative statements instead of defending himself against it. Whatever the issue, Trumpian speech puts things into terms that are kinder to his brand. Consequently, since Mr. Trump took office in 2016, there has been a 10fold upsurge in violence against members of Congress.
Donald Trump wants to run again for President and continue where he left off with chaos and scandal. Americans do not want a leader who is impulsive, undisciplined, tradition-defying with an inclination to bypass the truth (tell Lies) and skirt the law.
Donald Trump has been a polarizing president for the American people and consequently, we have seen our democracy in danger with Mr. Trump. American people need to “stand united, instead of divided we fall.” We do not need a leader who has a narcissistic mental disorder who has an unrealistic high sense of their own importance.
What makes our nation separate from other countries is that we have laws that protect our rights under the U.S. constitution as well as civil rights laws. Trump’s administration aggressively tried to turn back the clock on our nation’s civil and human rights progress.
Mr. Trump did not deliver on foreign policy, has admiration for dictators, does not believe in climate change, and put the United States in a bad light with our allies.
Mr. Trump fails to understand what makes our country great. We are a country of immigrants and of people of different colors from many countries. Mr. Trump never supported amnesty and his policy was to separate children from their parents at the border. Former Vice President Mike Pence says, “I think we’ll have better choices than Trump in 2024. Let us hope so! John Winkler
San Pedro
Urge Newsom to Support Clean Energy
Gov. Gavin Newsom clearly cares about his image as an environmentalist governor who is guiding our state toward national leadership in combating climate change. But following the midterm election, the California Public Utilities Commission, led by his appointees, has issued a new proposal that would severely cut the subsidies that new rooftop solar customers receive. For people who go solar after April 2023, the CPUC is proposing to slash by 75 percent or more the credit that new customers would receive for the excess energy that they contribute to the grid. Due to this and other subject to taxation.
But Rick Scott’s solution to this situation isn’t to raise the income of working-class people so they make enough to pay for food, rent, and qualify to pay income taxes.
Quite to the contrary, he’s suggesting that lowincome people should be hit with their very own special income tax — in addition to the dozens of other taxes they’re already paying — so multimillionaires and billionaires like him and his friends can see their own taxes go down a tiny bit.
“All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game,” Scott says in his 11-point plan, “even if it is a small amount. Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax.”
But for Ron Johnson, even that’s not quite enough of a club to beat working-class Americans over the head, particularly those who are retired and no longer working. He’s targeting the older folks, in fact, for his punishment this week.
He wants to open the Social Security and Medicare trust funds to an annual vote by Congress by moving those programs from the “mandatory spending” category to the easily changed or deleted “discretionary spending.”
“Defense spending has always been discretionary,” Johnson said on a recent radio show. “VA spending is discretionary. What’s mandatory are things like Social Security and Medicare. If you qualify for the entitlement you just get it no matter what the cost.”
Read the complete article at: www.randomlengthsnews.com
The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America parts of the proposal, it would double the length of time it takes for the solar investment to pay for itself, going beyond 10 years for most of the California market. The bottom line is that this proposal would put rooftop solar out of reach for millions of working families, churches, schools, and businesses while increasing the profits of large utility companies.
The CPUC is scheduled to vote on this proposal on December 15. Governor Newsom has the power to reject the proposal if the CPUC passes it. Urge him to stop this current proposal and encourage the CPUC to come up with a better one that significantly supports the expansion of rooftop solar. An online search for “Contact Newsom” will lead you to his website, where you can leave a written comment. Or call his office to leave a spoken comment at 916-445-2841. Thanks for considering this action.
Terry Andrews San Pedro
Lack of Disabled Access for the Art Walk
I haven’t attended the art walk in many years now. I have mobility issues and found the art walk to not be very disabled friendly. Parking access is virtually nonexistent. Often, I would drive around for up to 30-40 min. for a space, to eventually give up, and go back home. I know we have an aging artist community, making access critical. In the past when I brought the issue up, it was treated with an oh-hum response, if at all. Having had a studio in the ‘80s, long before it was fashionable, on Palos Verdes Street, I do feel an affinity with the current successes in making the old town area thrive again.
Slobodan Dimitrov
Long Beach
ERRATA
In Random Lengths News Nov. 10, issue, the story “First Thursday ArtWalk Reaches a Milestone” mistakenly mentioned its subject Linda Grimes without an explanation of her title preceding her introduction. Grimes is the executive director of the San Pedro Waterfront Arts District.
We regret the error.