LETTERS: Endless worldwide conflicts are destroying innocent lives and Earth, too

Give us some credit via cash discount

I am writing regarding Betty Lin-Fisher’s article i n Monday's paper, “There is a war on cash."

Credit card usage is “encouraged” (via points and/or store programs) and used in many situations (large expenses, restaurants, grocery stores, department stores, etc.). In the article, Jay Stanley of the ACLU states that raising prices slightly across the board is “not equitable."

However, let me ask you a question: How many carry around cash to pay a bill for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars? Probably not many. Paying cash is still OK. Instead, businesses can offer a discount for paying with cash, instead of hitting a customer who intends to use their credit card (often surprising them when the invoice or bill is presented) with this “administrative” fee.

"Everyone’s doing it" is not true. Some businesses value their customers' concerns. This is a simple issue that can be resolved and offer a win-win situation. I have another solution: Go only to those businesses that do not try to pass on a fee that has been around for 15 to 20 years for using a credit card, and offer a cash discount.

John Buscemi, Melbourne

Worldwide conflicts destroy lives, Earth

The U.S. is contributing to wars by sending munitions. The misery these war materials cause is unfathomable. One picture showed a child carrying his cat in a war zone, with destruction all around them.

These conflicts are killing innocent people and animals. The land, water and atmosphere on Earth are being negatively affected. This awful, ruinous, obtuse fighting needs to stop.

Judy McGee, Melbourne

Gun death stats are skewed

A recent article in FLORIDA TODAY, "Guns still leading cause of deaths for youths," and one the following day in online national news titled "Guns are still leading cause of deaths for kids," describe the most recent report from Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence.

The headlines suggest that the result is about children. The text of the first article states that it applies to "children and teens between the ages of 1 and 17." Excluding those younger than 1 skews the data.

It notes that "gun violence and firearms accounted for 30% of deaths that occurred among older teens between the ages of 15 and 17." This drives up the gun death rate up compared to that for the age group birth through age 14.

The article also notes that in 2022, 48,204 people died from gun-related injuries, including 27,000 suicides comprising 56% of the total deaths. Approaches that address suicides differ from those that address other deaths. For example, two of President Biden's favorite proposals are banning "assault weapons" and limiting gun magazine capacity. Neither address suicides which usually involve handguns (rifles and shotguns have long barrels and triggers that must be pulled away from the end of the barrel, making it difficult to fire them with the barrel pointed at the shooter) and involve one shot.

James Beasom, Melbourne Village

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MAGA, are his values OK by you?

To those unconcerned about the myriad defects in Trump’s character and want to focus on policy, fine, let’s do that.

He had four years to enact his policies. He said build the wall and Mexico will pay for it. COVID: 38 times, he said it would disappear and was no more than flu. He posited ridiculous treatments (bleach, horse dewormer, etc). There's his climate denial in spite of obvious and overwhelming evidence to the contrary, causing damage to the country and delaying mitigating action. He works against woman’s rights over their own bodies. Disparages Jews and minorities. Disrespects veterans. Increased national debt tremendously with little or no benefit to the middle class. And let’s not forget the thousands of verifiable and obvious lies he continues to vomit.

So, no need for ad hominem attacks on a very old, cognitivly impaired, deeply, deeply flawed, immoral insurrectionist felon who obviously hates the country the rest of us love.

But if that’s OK with you, go for it. He owns you and you own him.

Ed Dean, Merritt Island

No question: Trump should be POTUS

It seems increasingly obvious who ought to be the next president of the United States.

Donald Trump has clear positions on taxation and revenue expectations. He would renew the expiring 2017 tax cuts beyond 2025. He proposes eliminating taxation of service employee tips income, overtime pay, and Social Security income. He’d reduce corporate taxation from 21% to 15% and capital gains tax from over 20% to 10%.

Vice President Harris would let Trump’s 2017 tax cuts expire in 2025, one of the biggest tax increases ever, on all income categories. She proposes to increase the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. She proposes raising taxes on capital gains, and a new tax on unrealized capital gains (increased value of investments). Clearly, she needs additional revenue to fund her target of $5 trillion over 10 years for new social spending programs.

Their past records in national administration leadership are:

• VP Harris shared leadership of a broken border and immigration system, a weak economy with high cost-of-living, declining national security, increased crime, and international upheaval.
• Former President Trump achieved energy independence; increased military readiness; low taxes and economic inflation (1.4%); higher wages for all classes; low crime; secure borders; strong international leadership and international peace; and produced COVID vaccine in one year. His 2017 tax cuts significantly increased federal revenue like Presidents Kennedy and Reagan had.

We desperately need strong national leadership to return the country to viability in every direction. There should be no question who fits the bill.

Ed Taylor, Satellite Beach

'Real' Republicans won't vote Trump

At times one must pity the confusion Republicans share.

At the Republican convention one speaker stated the GOP candidate would stand with police, not the rioters. The GOP candidate calls rioters who have either pleaded guilty or were convicted by a jury of their peers “hostages."

They defend the GOP candidate’s gross loss in the debate by saying Kamala Harris knew in advance that questions would be about current events. Really? The GOP candidate did not know that?

The GOP candidate continues to claim he has a plan for replace or amend the Affordable Care Act: Where is it? In the GOP candidate’s previous term he said it was ready and would be released in July or August 2019: Where is it? Why did John McCain vote against repealing the ACA? He knew, as every other senator knew, that the GOP president, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, were, at best, being disingenuous saying the ACA replacement legislation was ready to be presented for a vote.

Do not forget, the GOP candidate has stated he'd be a dictator on Day 1, will “fix it” so you never need to vote again,  and that women will no longer need to make their own medical decisions — he will do that for them.

Republicans, join the real Republicans, the real conservatives: Support and vote for Kamala Harris.

'When I get big' ...

Just imagine a child's vie w of Election 2024 ...

Hi, my name is Bobby, I'm 4 (almost 5). I like to watch TV. My favorite show is the big man who's always making speeches. He's my hero; everybody loves him. He has magic hair; sometimes it's white, sometimes it's yellow, sometimes orange. He has funny names for bad people, like "Little Marco," "Lyin' Ted," “Crooked Hillary" and "Crooked Joe.” I call kids I don't like "Stinkpot," but that's one name he hasn't used yet.

I love the parts of his program where he tells about his superpowers. There are problems in the world that nobody has been able to fix, but if people would just ask him, he could solve them in a minute, maybe less.

My hero's best friend has a beard, and a scary face. He says our biggest problem is little old ladies who don't have any children, only cats. (I wouldn't want a mommy who didn't have any children, would you?) Somebody keeps eating their cats, so they try to make everybody else unhappy too. I bet my hero could find out who's eating those cats, and then just paste some stamps on them and send them back to wherever they came from.

When I get big, I want to be just like my hero. I know I've got a lot to learn, words like "rigged,” "weaponize" and "witch hunt." I already know a lot of his other words, but my mommy won't let me use them.

Robert Palmquist, Melbourne

'Common-sense Republican reality'

The response to my previous letters presumes that I’m a “loud-mouthed liberal” and an amateur psychologist. Been a conservative Republican for decades. Which means I understand the difference between what the MAGA-RINO cult espouses and common-sense Republican reality. I can tell the difference between truth and the racist, misogynistic content (outright lies) of Trump/Vance speeches.

Vance somehow believes you’re allowed to “create” a lie to get media attention. Vance’s dishonest-unethical-dishonorable “creative” racist lies are morally reprehensible.

Serial philanderer and woman-hater Trump’s “I’m going to protect women” speech was serious word salad and dementedly paternalistic. The women I know don’t need a man for protection.

Then there’s Trump’s speech in Indiana, Pennsylvania, where he trashed legal migrant Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, and actually said, “The fact is, and I’ll say it now, you have to get them the hell out … You have to get them out, I’m sorry.”

What? You're sorry? Maybe Trump should “get the hell” back to “his” ancestral Germany. This week a few brave congressional Republicans finally quit toadying up to narcissistic Trump and actually passed a continuing budget resolution. They finally realized Trump’s ridiculous demands aren’t going to help with “their” election chances. Perhaps they will finally understand that they do not need to be beholden to anyone except the voters in their districts and grow a backbone. If, on the other hand, your congressman or senator parroted the racist and hateful MAGA-RINO rhetoric, you might just want to vote into office a better person.

Gordon Hemphill, Satellite Beach

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: LETTERS: Endless worldwide conflicts are destroying innocent lives and Earth, too