Train fraud history repeats: Letters to the editor, May 30, 2019
On HSR, history indeed repeats
Just returned from the 150th anniversary celebration of the Transcontinental Railroad, while there we learned some of its interesting history. In June 1862 President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act, which authorized the building of a transcontinental railroad from Omaha to Sacramento. In August of 1862 in Chicago the first Board of Commissioners met and the Union Pacific Railroad company was born. What followed was truly astounding.
Over the next ten years Union Pacific fell into the hands of Wall Street speculators. A few of the directors and officers of the company began pocketing millions of dollars from construction funding till finally in 1887 Congress and then President Grover Cleveland created the U.S. Pacific Railroad Commission to investigate the finances of the railroads. When the Commission submitted its report in 1888 they had found the directors and officers of Union Pacific had acquired in construction fraud alone $23.3 million, which in today’s dollars would be just shy of $1.17 billion.
Now fast forward to 2019, when looking at California High-Speed Rail Authority with its cost overruns, along with what has been accomplished and what has not been accomplished, it is easy to come to the conclusion that history does indeed repeat itself.
Keith Arndt, Fresno
Should just anyone be U.S. president?
One of the hallmarks of this nation is the idea anyone can grow up to be president. Keeping recent history in mind, the scariest thing about our nation is anyone can grow up to be president.
Jim Doyle, Fresno
Limiting liquor stores right move
Around the community, there is a plentiful amount of liquor stores, around each corner, each street, and every block. These places need to be restricted within the county to prevent further issues and safety complaints for teens.
Recently, the Safe Neighborhood Market Ordinance was passed by the Fresno City Council, capping the number of liquor licenses and retiring existing licenses to try to reduce this heavy amount of liquor stores. The new order passed will hopefully bring more strict demands in lowering the number of liquor stores.
Teenagers have become influenced by them. They are surrounded by liquor stores around their schools, having a negative impact and makes it less safe for those under the alcohol age limit.
Kara Her, Fresno
New welfare class: America’s farmers
“Nobody told me there’d be days like these. Strange days indeed.”Amen John.
The president’s lack of understanding on how tariffs work creates a new demographic among his supporters — welfare farmers! They hate big government and socialism, but they’re quick to get in line for their tariff bail-out checks.That’s a $16 billion subsidy from the rest of us taxpayers.
A Trump supporter defends the China trade wars by claiming “I don’t buy anything from China! I only shop at Walmart and Target.”(News alert: 80% of the products sold at these two retailers is made in China.)
Free trade Republicans abandon their “principles” and support tariffs and trade wars. Free market capitalism? Hardly. Now government gets to pick winners and losers (socialism).
The 2017 Tax “Reform” (cuts) allows 60 Fortune 500 companies to pay zero taxes! This retired public school teacher pays more taxes than IBM or Amazon or General Motors or Chevron — combined. Even rural Americans in red states can smell this stinker of a “deal.” And the annual deficit will top $1 trillion this year.
Not sure whether to call these events “ironic” or “unintentionally funny.” But I’m tired of winning.
Gary Sellers, Fresno
Difference between weather, climate
A letter to the editor May 21 from Linda Keys of Tulare indicates she is “stunned” by the number of “gullible” people who don’t understand “weather.” I am surprised that she doesn’t understand the difference between weather and climate. Weather is what we experience on a daily basis; climate refers to the long-term averages of weather over decades.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency has found that average global temperatures since 1975 are increasing more rapidly than ever before. According to the NASA website, even a small increase in average temperatures (climate) can result in more extreme weather incidents.
To put it in perspective, a decrease in the average global temperature of only two degrees Fahrenheit was enough in the past to trigger the “Little Ice Age” from 1300-1870 A.D.; an decrease of five degrees was enough to cause a major ice age starting 20,000 years ago, burying most of North America under ice, according to NASA, (earthobservatory.nasa.gov.)
Glaciers are melting at a rapid rate, resulting in rising of the oceans, threatening coastal communities and island nations. It is widely believed by scientists in numerous countries that global climate change (warming) is a reality.
Sharon Booth, Sanger
This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Train fraud history repeats: Letters to the editor, May 30, 2019."