Trump let us down on China

Trump isn’t standing up to China

Candidate Donald Trump roared repeatedly that as president he would build a great wall and make Mexico pay for it. After the election, President Trump found out that whereas in his businesses he may have been able to build monuments to himself and have his subcontractors and workers pay for it, such strategy proved feckless when dealing with sovereign nations.

Candidate Trump also roared about China’s abusive monetary policies and predatory trade practices, and how he would stop all that. Yet now that he has come face to face with the party bosses whose policies he so maligned, he has completely kowtowed, publicly praising their actions that he’d previously decried.

What’s wrong Mr. President? Have you developed another bone spur in your heel?

City Council should tackle violence

You are to be commended for showing personal stories on some citizens who were murdered this year in your community. What community would not like to have a David Lindsay, and some of the others, including the associate professor, whose lives were taken before they were able to contribute fully to their community?

I hope that the newly elected five members of the Charlotte City Council (all under age 40) who will begin their terms in December will listen to those who have lost family members and friends, and those children who need someone to look up to as models to build on their own futures.

Look to Australia on gun control

We are starting to have conversations around our dinner table about what we would do if a shooter showed up at our place of worship or any other place we go regularly. A horrible thought but an inescapable one.

When will we follow the example of other countries? Australia is one example: a mass shooting occurred in 1996, and it quickly enacted much stricter gun laws. The country has hardly had a mass shooting since. What appears to distinguish us from other countries is not the prevalence of mental illness or crime, but the number of guns. Many countries believe that gun ownership must be earned and regulated. We assume it is a fundamental right that must not be regulated. When will we learn? Sens. Burr and Tillis, are you listening?

What we should do if Roy Moore is elected

Roy Moore was so far beyond the pale before assertions of perverted and depraved activity with underage girls arose, that he should never be a part of any governmental body in a country with the high standards we embrace.

Now that there have been multiple credible allegations of his immoral and illegal contact with teenage girls, if the voters of Alabama do actually elect him, they demonstrate such a lack of adherence to those standards that they deserve to govern themselves. We should remove their star from our flag, let them cast off on their own, and make Moore their leader.

Tax reform could backfire on GOP

Republicans openly state they’re concerned that if they don’t find a way to enact tax reform soon that they may suffer serious losses in the 2018 election. But, could tax reform as it’s currently being proposed actually hurt Republicans in next year’s mid-term elections?

As both the Senate’s and House’s tax proposals look now, many middle class Americans may see a tax increase. I know that I would. How would the personal realization of an increase in federal income tax affect voters next November?

We owe it to ourselves to be aware of how the tax code changes will affect our individual tax bills, and then vote for or against our senators and House representatives appropriately.

Trump took a cheap shot on Veterans Day

This story was originally published November 14, 2017 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Trump let us down on China."