The midterm elections are a little less than a year away, and I could be wrong, but using history as a guide, this is starting to feel like 1994 and 2010. Both Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama faced blowback when it came to implementing big government programs and higher taxes to pay for them.
Clearly, many mainstream voters are concerned about what President Biden’s plans will mean in terms of taxes and regulations.
The Republicans are very clear about what they oppose, but what are they for? What would they do if they got both houses of Congress back?
It seems to me they need a platform of clear proposals to run, as they had in 1994. A few suggestions might be:
● A constitutional amendment that would prevent Congress from exempting themselves from laws that they pass (e.g., the Affordable Care Act) and make members of Congress subject to insider trading laws.
● Term limits limits for the House and Senate.
● A payroll tax cut for the middle class.
● Eliminating wasteful subsidies for purchasing electric and hybrid cars.
If the GOP wants its majority back, the party ought to lay out a list of common-sense proposals stating what it wants to do.
BRIAN SCSAVNICKI
Perrysburg
Parking problems
I am blessed to live and own properties on Berdan Avenue — the street is relatively smooth, has bus service, and is frequently patrolled.
I am cursed to live and own properties on Berdan Avenue — the street is designated “no parking,” which results in a parking fiasco among the multi-use residences that surround me. There are times when the front-yard parking on my block resembles a tornado-strewn disaster.
According to the Toledo Municipal Code, residents should expect a ticket if they are parked in an undesignated area noted by the city or angle parked or parked perpendicular to the street on any surface or lawn other than a paved driveway.
This needs to be enforced. Property values, curb appeal, and common courtesy overrule the inconsideration of neighborly respect.
DAN FLAHIFF
Toledo
We must do better in wake of tragedies
My initial reaction to seeing the devastation of western Kentucky was a memory of Homestead, Fla., 29 years ago. After Hurricane Andrew struck, I joined my brothers, my parents, and an uncle to travel to South Florida, where we spent a week repairing my sister’s damaged home.
Last week I considered loading food, water, tools, supplies, and my chainsaw in the work van to offer cleanup services in Kentucky.
I was glad to see our president visited Mayfield to offer compassionate support and federal assistance. He was greeted with a chant of “Let’s go, Brandon!” What a shameful action. These people lost their homes to climate change driven by the policies of the party they largely support.
It’s disappointing Kentucky has elected conservative representatives to Congress who don’t believe the science of climate change and have not built a government that makes serving its own citizens a priority.
We should be a better country. So sad.
LEE WEYGANDT
Findlay
Hero worship
It was interesting to hear that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thinks of President Biden as Mr. Perfect and Kamala Harris as inspirational. To me this statement says more about Ms. Pelosi than about the occupants of the White House. I wonder if the families of the soldiers killed during the Afghanistan departure would agree. The same for the ranchers and farmers along the southern border.
And how about all of the Americans who get sticker shock whenever they fill up at the gas station or do their grocery shopping. And then Ms. Pelosi claims that we have a crime problem in the country but can’t figure out the cause of it. There must be something in the liberal Kool–Aid she’s drinking. Based on her remarks, it looks like she wants the rest of us to drink it too.
PATRICK SEITZ
Oregon
First Published December 23, 2021, 5:00 a.m.