Michelle Obama had friend in White House

With one sentence in her Sunday op-ed “Don’t expect every kid of color to match Michelle’s success,” Esther Cepeda not only insulted every woman in the United States but she also managed to trivialize Mrs. Obama’s personal accomplishments.

Cepeda suggested Michelle Obama “made it to the White House” because of her family, hard work, Ivy League education and law degree. As cynical as it sounds, Michelle made it to the White House not because of her accomplishments but because she married the guy who actually did make it to the White House.

Sometimes hero worship blinds one to the actual facts. Bill Somers, Worthington

Ohioans elected leaders who let ECOT slide

The Sunday Dispatch editorial “It’s time to make e-school funding accountable” is certainly correct. However, I can’t help but wonder how the majority of Ohio citizens rewarded the folks who watched and abetted in this massive swindle by the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow.

Our new governor, Mike Dewine, was attorney general, a position most responsible for reining in lawbreakers. Our auditor at the time, Dave Yost, has now been awarded a higher position of attorney general. Even Andrew Brenner, our previous chairman of the House Education Committee, has been awarded the position of state senator after receiving thousands of dollars from the school. He even acquired the nickname of “ECOT Andy.”

I could go on, but why bother? The majority of my fellow citizens just really don’t care what happens in our Statehouse.

Trish Bishop, Westerville

Others should help pay for Metro Parks

I respond to the Wednesday Dispatch article “Metro Parks to buy pristine land.” Yes, parks are great and much needed. But I just paid my property-tax bill, including a new 10-year levy that was passed by all Franklin County voters, and now I hear that the new parkland is noncontiguous to Franklin County. What?

The website says, “Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks (Metro Parks) is a public agency serving the citizens of central Ohio by providing a regional system of clean, safe, natural area parks. Metro Parks features 20 outstanding natural area parks with more than 230 miles of trails and over 27,700 acres of land in seven” (yes seven) “central Ohio counties.”

The park system is an independent political subdivision organized in 1945 under Ohio Revised Code Section 1545. Who pays for the parks? Metro Parks’ primary funding source is the 10-year, 0.75 mill levy approved by Franklin County voters in 2009 and 2018.

I looked at a recent budget and it was about $34 million. We have added many condos over the past 10 years with lots of tax abatements and now an abundance of apartments. Instead of taxing the few, it is time for all to pay their fair share.

I urge readers to contact their members of the General Assembly to take a look at the new Franklin County Metro Parks footprint and level the playing field. Oh, and by the way, as a Franklin County taxpayer, I also pay for the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium which is in Delaware County. What’s next?

Linda Hines, Columbus

Roads, bridges require increase in gasoline tax

The Sunday Dispatch article “Roadwork gas tax ahead?” was timely. The American Society of Civil Engineers released a report in 2017 that estimated U.S. roads and bridges require $2 trillion in improvements; however, despite all the talk, there does not appear to be the will at the national level to fund these needs.

The last time the federal gas tax was raised was in 1997. Many states, including some of those surrounding Ohio, have decided to do something on their own to address this issue by raising their state gasoline tax. Work to repair roads and bridges in Ohio would not only improve the movement of goods and services within the state and thus be a boon to economic development, it would provide thousands of highpaying construction jobs.

It is time to raise the gasoline tax and enact an electric-vehicle fee in Ohio to provide this badly need funding.

Mark Corna, Powell

Shutdown shows lack of respect for workers

Thousands of federalgovernment workers in Ohio and across the nation are being forced to work without receiving a single cent. The narrative framing this debacle is that of a divided government, refusing to negotiate with itself; either President Trump needs to give in, or the Democrats do. There is no other way out.

The problem with this framing is that it takes all agency away from those who are most affected — the workers. Many of them, deemed too “vital” to be dropped, must report to their workplaces and serve without receiving a paycheck. For any other employer this would be illegal.

The government is having a hissy fit right now, and doesn’t care that it’s hurting thousands of people.

It’s time for the American people to stand up and demonstrate exactly how vital they are. Imagine: hundreds of thousands call off work in protest tomorrow. Flights are paralyzed, prisons run amok, vital services go offline. The message will be received loud and clear.

Our government in the past month has shown us how inept and powerless it is. But its people are not. Never forget that. Strike!

Pierre Fortier, Columbus

Columnist is clueless about global warming

I respond to the Wednesday op-ed “Feelgood proposals reach new levels of stupidity” by Cal Thomas. Unfortunately, Thomas seems not to understand that climate change is real, regardless of its cause. That the climate is changing and is warming is, in fact, settled science.

Thomas does not understand the difference between climate and weather, the former being a long-term phenomenon and the latter a daily event. Further, in quoting Fox News Channel contributor Marc Morano, Thomas showed that he does not understand the role of carbon dioxide in the warming of the atmosphere.

David Elliot, Columbus

Weather, size make Israeli fence different

I respond to the Saturday letter “Barrier Israel uses is highly successful” from Michael Holman, about the benefits of the wall along the

Egypt/israeli border and the reasons why this particular barrier is effective.

The border fence between Israel and Egypt is 150 miles long, making the dynamics of monitoring and patrolling it very different from a 3,000mile wall with Mexico. There is also a smuggling industry that exists in Mexico that the Israelis never had to deal with.

Rather than merely focusing on making it harder for immigrants to enter the country, Israel has also made it less desirable for immigrants who make it across the wall to stay and work. They greatly increased penalties employers have to pay for hiring illegal immigrants and another law greatly limits the ability to transfer money out of Israel to certain countries. Experts believe these two changes in law did as much, or more, to limit illegal border crossings than did the barrier itself.

The Israeli border fence is surrounded by a vast desert, while the terrain surrounding the U.S. border varies. This desert provides a natural barrier to immigration, as shown by the fact that most immigration to Israel only occurred on days when the weather was optimal for desert crossing.

There has been no economic analysis of the costs of building a wall, staffing it, maintaining it, instituting increased penalties on employers, limiting money transfers between countries and combating the smuggling industry. Also unaddressed, and unrelated to Holman’s comparison, are land rights, grazing issues for ranchers and environmental concerns.

To me, the wall is just another example of a potentially wasteful government expenditure. The wall on our border with Mexico is a campaign promise exhibiting little to no planning, all while greater immigration-related problems exist and remain unaddressed.

Keith White, Upper Arlington