Letters: Jan. 1, 2019 | Tri-City Herald

How well did wall work for France?

Just wondering whether the folks who are blathering about a border wall remember the Maginot Line and how well it worked to keep the Nazis out of France? In case you were sleeping during your high school history class, I’ll help you. It didn’t work at all.

I may be going out on a limb here, but I’d predict that a border wall in the U.S. won’t work any better. Proponents of one have politicized the immigration issue to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I’m no bleeding heart liberal, but I can’t abide bad decisions when it costs me money.

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Building a wall along the southern border won’t accomplish anything substantive. Spend taxes, if you must, on clearing immigration backlogs and shoring up my Social Security. During this holiday season, I am planning to lobby in favor of a more, not less, civilized society. I hope you’ll join me. Here’s a tip: You don’t lift yourself up by pushing other people down.

Trump’s voters could pay for wall

As I write this Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are meeting with President Trump to discuss avoiding a shutdown of the government. Trump is asking for funding of the border wall. If he doesn’t get it he is threatening to shut down the government. I agree that we need a secure border. But wait, didn’t he promise during the campaign that Mexico would pay for the wall? That won’t happen. But he promised! Oh well, what to do?

I have a solution. Donald Trump could ask his voters to contribute to the wall that is estimated to cost anywhere from $21billion to $70 billion, not including maintenance. He could kick in his $3 billion because of his broken promise, and ask his voters to kick in the rest. He received almost 63 million votes. If the wall costs $21 billion and he gives $3 billion, that means each voter would only have to kick in $285 at the low end, and $1,064 at the high end.

That’s chump change, or should I say Trump change.

Go for it Trump voters! Or they could do a bake sale or a car wash. How about a raffle? This president is a joke.

I have questions for pro-lifers

I’m calling pro-lifers hypocrites. The Bible doesn’t say anything about “abortion,” but “killing” is mentioned. Why support war, NRA, ownership of multi-magazine weapons? Against the death penalty but support the rapist/child molester? Do you know these “fathers” have legal rights to the child saved by abortions? It’s okay because it’s all about saving the embryo?

Pro-Lifers only worry about the unborn. What about after birth? Conservatives are basically anti-lifers. You don’t want your taxes to fund single mothers living expenses, food vouchers, everything else. This includes your taxes paying for state insurance covering morning after pills, birth control supplies, Planned Parenthood, paid education and childcare for the mother and childrens health and dental.

Saving children that are hungry, homeless, sick, children at the borders locked in cages, children dying by bullets, bombs, diseases, hunger throughout the world. Save the embryo in the womb so it can die in the classroom by another kid who brought his parent’s 50+ magazine rifle to school to kill classmates.

Where are your signs supporting Mothers Against Guns? Why aren’t you fighting to ban sales of over 50 magazine ammunition law? Or does your “care about life” stop when the child is born?

Find new solution for salmon, dams

There are some of us still alive that remember when the Columbia River was without dikes and dams.

In the 1948 flood, the water crossed Lewis Street in Pasco and kept going until it was on the north side of Memorial Park, lapping at the edge of Shoshone Street. That was two blocks from our house located on Pacific (now 16th Street and Irving street. Sylvester Street was one block from our home to the North. Floods create diseases and everyone had to get typhoid shots.

Construction on dams began and while they were being built, the Corps of Army Engineers were putting up the dikes. The dams controlled the flow of water and as time passed, the dikes were lowered at various points along the river, primarily where the boat races are held, but there were a few people living along the rivers edge that didn’t like the dikes blocking their view of the river and there are no dikes at all. Without the dams, the lives of thousands of people will be at risk.

There must be a great architect out there who could solve the problem of the salmon by thinking outside the box.