President Trump’s first 100 days in office: A failure to lead the nation | Opinion

Where are the Republicans?

“Here are 10 ways Donald Trump failed us in his first 100 days in office” (fresnobee.com, April 29)

In the short span of 100 days Trump has:

▪ Nearly crashed the U.S. economy deleting trillions of dollars including individuals 401Ks;

▪ Made the U.S. the pariah of the world with tariffs and a trade war;

▪ Made us less safe by saying he would not aid a NATO ally under attack if HE doesn’t think they are worth it;

▪ Threatened our neighbor Canada;

▪ Threatened Greenland and by extension Denmark;

▪ Deported US citizens and immigrants here legally;

▪ Filled his cabinet with incompetent and unethical morons because they will do as they are told.

The United States will not survive another 6 months of this let alone 4 years.

But the biggest failure and shame belongs to the Republican Congress that cowers in fear and accepts literally anything Trump says. I believe the house has “representatives” by design, but is now filled with spineless cowards representing billionaires. It is beyond disgraceful, it is repulsive.

Trump is a liar, a thief, a bully, and a coward. The republican house members are absolutely worthless. Elections have consequences, this time they may be irrevocable and fatal. They must be stopped before it is too late, congress must act.

Randy Sacks, Coarsegold

Voting bill harms women

“If you changed your last name after getting married, your right to vote is at risk” (sacbee.com, March 13)

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act would impose new federal proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting, purportedly to ensure election integrity.

Instead, however, this cynical piece of lawmaking directly threatens traditional marriage values and as a result could strip voting rights from millions of women. This is because more than eight in ten women in the United States have adopted their husbands’ surnames as their own, often per their religious beliefs.

The problem? Their names now do not match their birth certificates, one of the few documents the SAVE Act considers acceptable for proof of citizenship (another being a valid U.S. passport). This could force women to either decline to take their spouse’s name or sacrifice their hard-won right to make their wishes known through their ballots. To be clear, it is already illegal for non-citizens to vote.

This unnecessary measure has passed the US House and awaits action in the Senate, meaning it is just one legislative step away from the president’s desk. I urge everyone reading this letter to contact California’s US Senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, to urge a “No” vote on this assault on our personal, political, and religious freedoms.

Dennis J. Pfaff, Redwood City

Solar owners deceived

“Bill by ex-energy company executive would slash solar credits. How shady” (fresnobee.com, April 27)

In 2018 I purchased a solar power system for two main reasons. The first was to control the price of electricity in my monthly bill. The second was to help the environment by going green.

The utilities – with the help of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and members of the state legislative – are chipping away at the incentives that attracted me to the purchase of the solar power system. News articles that come out explain that non-solar user’s electric bills are high because owners of solar systems don’t pay their fair share and that this pushes the cost to the non-solar user. This is a false narrative.

Solar owners have purchased or rent a solar power system with their own money. They provide surplus electricity to the grid during the daytime above what they have used in their own home or business. Owners of solar power systems are not the bad guy. They don’t make billions of dollars profit each year. I pay approx. $12 a month for electric service. I received a credit of $7.06 this last February from my surplus of 228 kWh at true-up.

Read AB-942 that is being proposed.

David McGee, Clovis

Police traffic stops

“We asked Fresno police chief about traffic stops and race. Here’s what she said” (fresnobee.com, April 22)

Articles have been written about police officers conducting traffic stops. Perhaps the organizations conducting the studies and the person who wrote the Bee article should read the California Vehicle Code. It lists the driving and traffic laws that ALL drivers needs to obey, like faulty equipment, expired registration, blacked-out front windows, speeding, unsafe driving, and so on.

This gives Officers a reason, or in legal terms, “probable cause” to make a traffic stop. We all study the Vehicle Code, go to DMV, take a written and driving test for our license and sign that we will obey ALL laws. Maybe the studies should be conducted on the people who violated the laws and ask them why they chose to violate the law.

To get a good dose of reality drive the city streets and count the intersections where people have spun their tires and have damaged the asphalt. Or better yet, stand at a major intersection and count the number of vehicles that fail to stop, run a red light, speed through the intersection and multiply that by the number of major intersections in the city. Do that before inserting the race card in a study/arrticle.

Frances Garcia, Fresno