Ramaswamy's real race
My concern about Vivek Ramaswamy winning the governor's race is that he doesn't know what he doesn't know, and he doesn't have the humility to admit his ignorance.
I haven't forgotten that he wanted to be president of the United States without any experience in government whatsoever.
I'm not confident that he truly wants to work for Ohioans and not just use Ohio as a starting point for his presidential ambitions. I don't believe he has a sufficient idea of what it means to be a civil servant, nor the sufficient disposition.
So far, his experiences haven't prepared him to think about the higher calling that a political career requires or the dedication to do
what is right for its citizens and not just what is right for him.
Cindy Kiener, Columbus
Invite kids to the killing
I applaud Pete Hegseth's recommendation to livestream the execution of Fort Hood murderer Nidal Hasan. As Hegseth said, "People need to see serious consequences."
To bring more attention to the execution, it should be done in front of the White House, where President Donald Trump's wrestling extravaganza took place. Washington, D.C., schools could be closed that day so children could attend. It's never too early to show citizens Hegseth's serious consequences.
There are many instances of public executions in our past. Approximately 1,000 people attended the hanging of Abraham Lincoln's murderer's co-conspirators, John Wilkes Booth. In 1862, approximately 4,000 viewed the execution of 38 Dakota men. In 1916 in Waco, Texas, an estimated 10,000 people attended the lynching of 17-year-old Black farmworker Jesse Washington.
And we'd be in good company. Middle Eastern terrorist groups livestream public executions. I wonder if Robert Kennedy will ask that abortions be livestreamed to discourage that practice.
What is our government coming to?
Russ Frye, Worthington
Poor billionaires
I have no quarrel with conservative opinion columnist Ingrid Jacques’ Oct. 1 portrayal of the DSA’s economic agenda as a largely unworkable, pie-in-the-sky fantasy.
But her attempt to characterize California’s proposed wealth tax on the state’s billionaires as “socialist” left out a few important facts.
First, thanks to President Donald Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill, California will lose $100 billion in Medicaid funding over the next five years, which, left unaddressed, will cause millions of recipients to lose their health care and thousands of health care workers to lose their jobs.
But because the state’s 230 billionaires have $2.3 trillion in combined wealth, that one-time, 5% tax will raise the $100 billion necessary to plug the hole and avoid that outcome.
Second, most California billionaires, because they take their compensation not in salaries that are subject to the state’s income tax, but in stock shares that aren’t taxed until they’re sold, currently pay lower tax rates than truck drivers, teachers and firefighters.
Third, despite billionaires’ threats to avoid the tax by moving from the state, there is little evidence they’re doing so. In fact, Google co-founder Sergei Brin ($250 billion net worth), who, with great fanfare, DID move from California earlier this year, has now quietly moved back to Mountain View.
And why not? If the “socialist” wealth tax passes, the combined net worth of California’s 230 billionaires will drop from $2.3 trillion to $2.2 trillion. Pretty sure they’ll still be able to make ends meet.
Dale Butland, Columbus
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ramaswamy can't lower himself to serve lil old Ohio. I am not fooled | Letters
