Making light rail and bus service free could help boost Charlotte’s economy

Why local transit should be free

Regarding “Charlotte’s light rail system is a money pit. Put money toward other solutions.” (Nov. 15 Forum):

Not only should bus service be free, so should the light rail system. If it allows more people to find sustainable jobs, they would improve the economy rather than be a drain on society.

The rewards would also be immeasurable in terms of tax revenue.

Cathy DeCostanza, Matthews

Lower tax rate boosts growth

Regarding “The verdict is in on NC’s tax cuts,” (Nov. 17 Editorial):

Your argument that a lower corporate income tax is worthless was simply wrong. In fact, you noted North Carolina’s job and economic growth far outpaced the national average.

A lower corporate tax rate encourages companies to make investments, including those that increase productivity that can result in higher wages, as well as expansions.

Why would the editorial board attack a significant reason that Charlotte is becoming such a magnet for new businesses, bringing jobs and new opportunities? You badly missed on this one.

Robert Stickler, Charlotte

NC Sen. Tillman acted dishonestly

Regarding “The arrogance of abusive power in NC,” (Nov. 18 Opinion):

I watched the videotape of N.C. Sen. Jerry Tillman of Randolph County criticizing Sen. Jeff Jackson. I don’t know anything about either gentleman, but I do know that if a vote is on the calendar and all members of the Senate are present, the only reason not to have it is a dishonest one.

I would have more respect for Tillman had he stood up and said: “Yes, we’re waiting until one of you Democrats is absent so we can force our budget through. The only way we can win is to cheat, so we’re going to cheat.”

I hope the good people of Randolph County see it’s long past time for Tillman’s turn as their representative to end.

Fred W. Caudill, Charlotte

Stop wasting money, Blue Cross

Regarding “Charlotte hospitals sign on to Blue Cross plan to curb rising medical costs,” (Nov. 14):

Here’s another example of insanity — doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome.

Despite the common-sense appeal of value-based care schemes that promise quality outcomes at lower cost, none have proved to do this. Attempts have cut costs by less than a percent, but with administrative costs over 2 percent, so the result is a net loss.

Carrot-and-stick approaches to quality health care do not work, especially when private, for-profit insurance companies administer them. Real money – $500 billion each year – can be saved by replacing the myriad of private insurers with a single efficient one.

Medicare for All can save money and improve our health. Blue Cross, stop wasting our time and money.

Dr. Denise Finck-Rothman, Charlotte

GOP must get its act together

If the Republican Party had our country’s best interests at heart, then Mike Pence and the cabinet would have invoked the 25th Amendment to declare President Trump unfit for office and remove him, just after he stood on the world stage in Helsinki and declared his allegiance to Putin by disavowing his trust in national intelligence agencies’ findings regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Since that did not transpire, we continue to suffer from this intolerable lack of leadership in the Republican Party. For God’s sake, get your act together and save our Republic.

Steve Adams, Cornelius

It’s a bad idea to court coyotes

Give coyotes space? (“Curb development; give coyotes space,” Nov. 17 Forum) That is a bad idea. Coyotes may have been common where we live hundreds or thousands of years ago, but now they are intruders. And they’re opportunistic intruders who like to dine on domestic cats, small dogs and fawns.

Many of them are actually “coywolves,” a mixture of wolf, coyote and dog. Biologists do not consider them a separate species – yet – and they are everywhere in the eastern U.S. Courting them to be your neighbors is a very bad idea.

Lin Robinson, Shelby

Thanks, Duke, for speedy repairs

Last week, Duke Energy showed why it’s one of the country’s best utilities. An accident on South Trade Street in Matthews pulled down power cables cutting power to about 1,500 users, including the seniors at Plantation Estates.

It occurred around 9 a.m. Duke arrived on the scene around 11:30 and by 1:30 p.m. had power restored. Good job, Duke!

James Cotton, Matthews

This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 5:00 AM.