Letters: Texas Legislature, Margaret McDermott Bridge, Trump's Tax Returns, Ukraine, Property Taxes

Consider me riled upIt takes a lot to rile me up enough to publicly express my views. Consider me riled up. Our state Legislature is considering several hateful, unnecessary and misogynistic bills. Texas has changed. Voters have evolved. The majority of constituents do not approve of a far-right approach to governance. I support abortion rights. Make them safe and easily accessible. Make them rare by expanding access to the full range of effective birth control options. Respect women enough to allow them to do what is right for themselves. I also support LGBTQ rights. Many people are born with differences. Legislators need to recognize that and understand that constituents prefer representatives who respect everyone, not just heterosexuals.Judith Shure, DallasBill hike-and-bike designerRe: "Fix will cost millions more โ€” Getting hike-and-bike features open will take $7.1 million, at least three years," by Robert Wilonsky, Tuesday Metro & Business column.Dallas is constantly ranked very low for being cycling- and runner-friendly and not having bike lanes to make it safe for cyclists. And after the absolute calamity at City Hall on how to open the bike and running lanes and fix their signature bridge, that low ranking really shows, with everybody blaming somebody else, and someone needs to pay for it. How about the guy that designed it and said it would all work? That would be a good start.Steve Gandy, PlanoWhy hide report, returns?The same rationale can be applied to both the Mueller report and President Donald Trump's tax returns. If there isn't any wrongdoing to be found in them, why are the president and the Republicans fighting so hard to keep them hidden?Judy Winkler, RichardsonHistory will judge TrumpPerhaps The Dallas Morning News is giving greater voice to pro-Trump letters lately, or so it seems. Most tout his many accomplishments, claiming credit for the economy, conservative judicial appointments and a host of other perceived wins. Yet, I'll never understand the blind devotion to a man who seems both ethically and morally corrupt. A man devoid of empathy and compassion, unable to ever admit he may be wrong. I suspect history will judge him poorly.Jon Hasenohrl, CorinthWhere is GOP integrity?Forget the Mueller report for a minute. If President Donald Trump orders the secretary of the treasury and/or the director of the Internal Revenue Service not to release his tax returns pursuant to a lawful subpoena based upon a clear federal law, then is Trump not committing obstruction of justice on national television for all to see?If the secretary and the director comply with Trump's order, then are they not breaking the law as well? What is wrong with these people? Where is the integrity of the old traditional Republican Party? It left on Air Force One on the way to Mar-A-Lago to golf with Trump.Gerald Bunger, SunnyvaleIt would be funny ...Re: "Comedian with no political experience leads polls โ€” Final results expected Monday; likely runoff planned for April 21," April 1 news story.If history repeats itself, comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy will have a shot at becoming Ukraine's next president. The United States elected a reality actor, some would say "'comic," why not Ukraine? That could be a new reality TV series following world leaders not yet ready for prime time, which would be funny if it wasn't so scary ... or have real-life consequences.Perri Brackett, LewisvilleDoctor's advice misguided Re: "Sick of property taxes? Expand Medicaid โ€” Texas lawmakers have chance to improve our health, financial well-being," by Hussain Lalani, April 4 Viewpoints.First, kudos to Dr. Lalani. In his first paragraph regarding expanding Medicaid in order to lower property taxes, he lauds his own ability to raise from the dead. Only knew one guy that could do that, but Dr. Lalani has added himself to the list. I'm not sure that his medical abilities extend to his knowledge of taxes, however. His suggestion to reduce our property taxes is to spend federal dollars instead of state dollars? Increase federal taxes instead of state taxes? Maybe he means that we should try to spend more federal dollars than the other states, so they subsidize our spend? Of course, as other states are already doing this, maybe he feels we should all line up to the trough, and spend all we can. I would welcome a debate on a state income tax vs. a property tax, as this spreads the state's income more fairly, but there are downsides to that as well. I feel Dr. Lalani is trying the pain-free way of governing: spend now and let someone else worry about it. I hope he doesn't have kids, as that's who will suffer from decisions like this.Lloyd Davis, Flower MoundTime to act like adultsHow can anyone be surprised that Dallas-Fort Worth has high property tax rates when we have no state income tax? The state and its cities and towns and counties have to come up with the money to provide roads and water towers and driver's license stations and schools and on and on. We gripe all the time about these things being underfunded, but we are the ones who ultimately have to pay for them. We're only fooling ourselves if we think Texas is run so efficiently that we can have substantially lower taxes than other states. It's just that we tax property owners rather than workers. Perhaps it's time we acted like adults and agreed to pay for all the things we want from our state, cities, towns, counties, etc.Dennis J. Frailey, FairviewFix the DMV, lawmakersAttempting to renew a driver's license, transfer a car title, or register a vehicle is a tortuous endeavor. Standing in line at the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles for four to six hours, as many have to do, is ridiculous. The process steals valuable time. It is evident that insufficient funding, inept leadership or perhaps both, is the problem here. The one entity which can change this is the state Legislature. Hey, people, get to work and fix this process.Jim Smith, Lucas  Continue reading...

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