America’s melting pot is spoiled
Pierre Damas Bel’s tragic death drives home the harm caused by the president’s termination of Temporary Protected Status for 330,000 Haitians.
It does so in ways that transcend petty political divides.
Regardless of party, there is little denying that many will lose their lives and livelihoods by being deported to Haiti. How we vote does not change the fact that we who remain will suffer the loss of the $1.5 billion Haitians pay in taxes and the $5.9 billion they contribute to our economy.
Why inflict so much misery on so many? Because the president says they and other immigrants poison our blood. No longer a melting pot, he claims we cannot make good
Americans from Haitians and other new arrivals.
This narrow vision of who can be one of us contrasts with the version of America emblazoned on the Statue of Liberty. That one welcomes all, especially the downtrodden, to build our nation together. It does not advocate for open borders. It confidently proclaims that we have made, and will continue to make, Americans from people of many cultures. Shrinking from that challenge of forging unity from diversity means forsaking our nation’s crowning achievement.
Edward Schortman, Granville
Don’t hold your breath
Anyone who believes they're getting a $5,000 check after the midterms is a fool.
This administration lies about everything, and they'll lie to get votes and then forget the lies immediately afterward. We've seen it over and over from this president.
We have a leader who lies like he breathes and a Congress that never works except to propose ridiculous bills in honor of the lying leader.
Enough is enough. We want our country back.
Chris Hersh, Canton
I don’t need a debate to see the truth
Re "Ohio's governor race is nasty. Acton should still debate," Sept. 13: USA TODAY Ohio Network Editorial Boards say we must have an Amy Acton – Vivek Ramaswamy debate.
OK, USA Editorial Board, that’s fine. But let’s temper expectations a bit. Informative? Helpful? Maybe.
Virtually all the political “debates” we’ve seen have been anything but debates. More like tryouts for prom king and queen. Primarily preening, regurgitating packaged sound bites and attempting gotcha ambushes. Kabuki theatre, truly, but hardly real debate. Facts?
Our current presidential office holder, Donald Trump, used to do quite well in many debates. Look what that got us. “Lower prices day one? Drain the swamp? No more Mideast wars? No more murderers on our streets?”
So sure, debates would be interesting, just keep in mind: Sometimes it’s hard to tell the smoke from the mirrors. If it’s truth you want, you’ll have to work harder than watching a “debate.” Maybe even just try Wikipedia.
One thing smoke or mirrors does not hide: simple candidate qualifications. Demonstrated ability over many years of public work, some of extreme importance and consequence.
Or, a multi-billionaire Trump lock-step disciple and protégée, who said American work culture "venerates mediocrity over excellence." Jeez, they even forced him out of DOGE!
Vernon Will, Worthington
Let’s get real about taxes
The initiative to abolish Ohio property taxes is unrealistic and bound to fail without presenting a realistic alternative to replace these taxes.
There will need to be several options on the table, including increasing state and local income taxes, raising the state sales tax, budget cuts and, no less importantly, a crackdown on fraud and waste similar to what the federal government has tried to do recently.
I would not support a bill to eliminate real estate taxes unless it had a combination of all the items listed above included.
Michael Doherty, Columbus
The FDA is crumpling
Under President Donald Trump, the Department of Health and Human Services has been hit hard by staffing cuts, leadership turnover and policy changes.
Our food safety system is now slower to respond to outbreaks and less prepared to prevent them.
The FDA has lost thousands of employees; the CDC and USDA’s meat and poultry inspection service, thousands more.
Entire advisory committees on food safety and meat and poultry inspection were eliminated, and two federal parasitology labs that researched foodborne pathogens were told to relocate or shut down. The CDC also removed several pathogens from the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network.
The results are grim.
The FDA’s workforce remains a fraction of what the agency actually needs to cover the country’s food facilities. This summer saw the largest-ever outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic illness, with more than 15,700 cases confirmed. Public health experts say the response has been slower and more disorganized than it should be, largely because the staff and labs that previously coordinated that response are gone.
Food safety isn’t a partisan issue. Congress must press the FDA and HHS to reinstate the food safety officials, inspectors and laboratory staff, and to fully fund food safety inspection and outbreak-response programs.
Jacquelynn Savoca, Richfield
The GOP’s nasty stories
In a presidential debate on Sept. 10, 2024, then-candidate Donald Trump said that the Haitian immigrants in Springfield were "eating the pets of the people who live there."
This was the kind of obvious, stupid lie a little kid would tell their mom, and their mom would tell them to stop telling stories.
A few days later, JD Vance defended this gross, outrageous lie by saying, "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do."
And that is why I support Democratic candidates bowing out of debates. Normally, I'd want a debate, but the GOP isn't interested in discussing issues.
They would rather "create stories." Sure, those "stories" (i.e., LIES) could be challenged during the debate, as Vice President Kamala Harris challenged the extremely obvious lie about immigrants eating pets. But it didn't matter. "A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." That lie persists and has done immeasurable harm.
The GOP's willingness to "create stories" hasn't abated.
Sen. Jon Husted's campaign approved an ad falsely tying Sherrod Brown to a horrific car crash without permission from the grieving family. Despite being asked to take it down, the ad is still running online. PACs associated with Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign are airing ads, with one falsely implying Dr. Amy Acton is some kind of drug addict and another with a Cincinnati GOP official veritably lying that Acton's actions kept her from her dying mother during COVID.
It is clear to me, from all the evidence above, the GOP candidates are not going to debate in any kind of good faith. No doubt the Democratic candidates have come to the same conclusion.
I'm not saying the candidates shouldn't meet with voters and answer questions (like a town hall), but I'm saying in this political climate, any debate is going to give the GOP candidates a platform to tell lies...sorry, "create stories," and that's not really a debate at all. No one will benefit from that.
Dennis Drew, Columbus
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Pierre Damas Bel’s tragic death proves America's melting pot is spoiled | Letters
