On the government shutdown: Letters to the editor, Jan. 17, 2019

Federal workers and the shutdown

Recently, the president tweeted that federal employees support his unyielding position of the need for $5 billion to construct a wall between Mexico and the United States to improve border security.

As a retired federal employee whose job and livelihood were routinely negatively impacted by annual threatened shutdowns, I find this hard to believe. However, we must recall that everyone who is part of the government is a federal employee — that includes senators and congressman. Thus, there are many federal employees who support this shutdown.

You can be sure that there are conservative congressman in favor of this shutdown, since they still get paid regardless of the shutdown. So, when the President says that federal employees support him, he is correct, except it is probably not the 400,000 rank-and-file employees who have no guarantee that they will be paid for the time lost during the shutdown.

Congress has routinely passed legislation reimbursing furloughed workers for time lost. However, they cannot reimburse the American population for the loss of productivity resulting from a shutdown. Estimates have placed these losses in the magnitude of $2 billion. This is a result from a party that touts fiscal responsibility.

Hoping to see an end to Trump

I am hoping with the new year that a new attitude of sensibility and decency will surface in this country and the self-centered, antagonistic attitude of the Donald Trump presidency will be at least brought under control or removed with impeachment and removal of Trump.

This country needs a sense of common decency and sensibility that is nonexistent in the Trump White House. We need to have our leaders bring back a sense of decency and cooperation with our allies and our neighbors. We need to reinvent ourselves and go back to some of the common-ground, sensible ways of doing business and be decent about it. Being a vindictive antagonist to everyone around us will not result in better relations with our allies nor open doors to improved relations with those with whom we have differing philosophies.

Donald Trump’s governing ineptness will not result in a better America. It will result in an isolated America, disliked and mistrusted because we are tolerating the immature, ignorant actions of someone who has a leading role in the world and does not have a clue what his role is or should be, much less how to play it.

Need to give a kind word to Trump

I found it appalling that you carried the news about Queen Elizabeth’s (who I love) address to her country, and not even a kind word about our president and his family during the holidays. I certainly don’t agree with all his decisions, however I believe that we elected him and we need to stand behind him.

I am 72 years old. I have watched Eisenhower, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Ford, Carter, Bushes (2), Clinton, Obama, and I have never seen any president treated with such rudeness and disrespect. Yes, he has made major mistakes, but so did the others. He really goofs up, but where are his advisers? How about something nice about what his wife is doing, for a change. Personally, I would like to see some more human interest stories in what is left of the paper.

Best Bulldogs team ever, continued

Which Fresno State Bulldog football team is the best ever, those of the past or present? If you look over the last three decades and compare the athletes, maybe some of the other teams were better. So where does that leave Fresno State Bulldogs for 2018? A great football team that surpassed the prodigious feat of 11 wins in a season.

Coach Jim Sweeney elevated the Bulldogs as far as he could on coaching and recruiting abilities. Then came coach Pat Hill who propelled them to another level of competition and “Valley Pride.” We won’t get into Tim DeRuyter. He rode the “Red Wave” that was built by his predecessors until the wave crashed on the shore of realty. But which coach broke the “Blue Turf Curse”? You got it; Jeff Tedford. Enough said. Best team ever! Go Bulldogs!

This story was originally published January 17, 2019 at 6:16 AM with the headline "On the government shutdown: Letters to the editor, Jan. 17, 2019."