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Transparency needed
on local measures
Re: “We’re being duped by officials who write local ballot measures” (Page A6, Feb. 22).
Bravo Sandy McCabe and Michael Henn. California voters have long been misled by dishonest descriptions of general tax measures that are sold as a panacea to all manner of ills. In reality, revenue generated by these taxes disappears into the black hole of the general budget and goes to whatever pressure group has the most influence at city hall.
Voters reading the slick and pleasing descriptions of these measures in their official voter guide and ballot might conclude their hard-earned tax dollars are going to fix potholes, provide child care services, or build housing for the homeless. In fact, the money is going to places like paying for ever-increasing pensions and health care costs of city workers who retired 10 years ago. It is time to end this charade and provide transparency and integrity in how these measures are presented.
Matt Regan
Pleasant Hill
Lee will work for
peace in Senate
Congresswoman Barbara Lee voted against giving presidents the authority to wage endless war. She urged restraint from military action that “might spiral out of control” and “put innocent lives at risk.” She supported President Biden’s withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan to end the disastrous campaign. The 2023 repeal of authorization for the use of military force against Iraq marked a milestone in her House career.
Lee voted to reaffirm our “commitment to Israel’s security … condemning the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists” but calls for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.
Lee supports U.S. involvement in the Ukraine-Russia conflict and aiding Ukraine “to preserve democracy” so Ukrainians “can live in peace and security” but opposed the decision to supply cluster munitions.
As a senator, Lee will work for world peace.
Melissa Weaver
Berkeley
Trump’s actions
make him unelectable
Over the years, Donald Trump has stated unabashed admiration for dictators, like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China President Xi Jinping. He even called Putin “a genius” for invading Ukraine in 2022. The fact that Trump would even be competitive to win the 2024 Republican nomination, let alone the heavy favorite, is a stark reminder of how extreme today’s GOP has become.
Even conservative icon Ronald Reagan would be considered too liberal to win the GOP nomination today. After all, Reagan backed a bipartisan compromise to save Social Security in 1983 and broke with his party’s hardliners to implement an arms control agreement with the then-Soviet Union in the late 1980s.
I used to vote Republican but that was when the GOP supported common-sense centrist policies and compromised with Democrats on hot-button issues like gun control and women’s health issues. Trump must not win again.
Arthur Straus
Walnut Creek
