Senators Burr and Tillis, let’s make a deal

Senators, let’s make a tax bill deal

Sens. Burr and Tillis: I propose a deal. If the Republican tax reform “sham” can be shown, as you and your colleagues claim, to meaningfully lower taxes on the majority of middle and lower income groups; not significantly raise the deficit; and boost economic growth by 2-3 percent, without leading to cuts to Medicare, reductions in Social Security, and millions losing health care, then I will contribute to your re-election campaigns.

However, if the plan is shown to make the wealthy wealthier, without truly helping middle- and lower-income groups (adding to our already unhealthy economic disparity), and it increases the deficit without dramatically growing the economy, then you should agree to resign. North Carolinians deserve the truth and expect ethical behavior from their representatives. Do we have a deal?

Vote out senators who passed tax bill

Have you ever seen a dog snatch something off the counter and gobble it down, knowing that someone will see what it’s not supposed to have and take it away? This is the image I can’t get out of my head as I consider how our senators frantically passed the tax bill.

The very deliberative body that insisted 11 months was too short a time to consider Obama’s Supreme Court appointee speedily voted on massive legislation in the middle of night without even delaying long enough to get handwritten notes into type, with no CBO scoring, and with no public debate. Like the greedy and untrustworthy dog, these senators have lost the right to remain in the house. We must all work hard to get them out.

Democrats making petty complaints

Can anyone doubt that the Democrat Party is imploding? Does it get any more foolish? They are complaining about changes to the tax bill being handwritten outside the margins. Give me a break! Perhaps they would like to pass a bill forbidding any future bill’s changes from being made outside the margins. Sit back and enjoy it.

Americans don’t vote in their best interest

If voters voted for their own best interest, this would mean the end of the Republican Party. But as the last election shows, voters are more motivated by hate and bigotry than even their own interest.

Christenbury’s ready for a political career

Trump is messing up on every level

Macro: In seeking to “make America great again,” our president has retreated from treaties and agreements, which has resulted in a smaller and less important America. He has abdicated a leadership role in the world, which is going to be difficult to claw back.

Micro: With an average of more than five public lies per day, our president has degraded the quality of our political dialogue to a dangerous level. He has encouraged marginal elements in our country to voice their damaging and destructive views.

Donald Trump has soiled our country.

The holidays can be a difficult time

KinderMourn held its annual Holiday Memorial Service Sunday at Myers Park United Methodist Church, giving those who have lost a child or other loved one the chance to light a candle and cry. The pain that so many suffer never subsides. It just deepens at the holidays, when everyone around you is getting lost in the reverie. KinderMourn, a local nonprofit, provides a refuge for the bereaved. Its service should remind the rest of us to keep an eye out for the hurting and the lost. What a gift it would be if we saw them in the shadows, far from the celebration, and we reached out to them.

This story was originally published December 4, 2017 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Senators Burr and Tillis, let’s make a deal."