Say it ain’t so: SF Giants fan decries the end of team’s winning era and its stars | Opinion
Heartsick Giants fan
In 2010 I was too sick to do anything but lie down and watch television. I started watching San Francisco Giants games, and as they fought their way to the World Series I fought my way back to health. I’ve been a fan ever since.
It breaks my heart to see players who forged the team’s success and built deep expertise discarded, instead of being given a chance to contribute in new roles. Seeing Brandon Crawford pushed out was the last straw for me. How can I feel loyal to a team that has no loyalty?
To add insult to injury, NBC has chosen to avoid covering any of the Giants’ spring training games despite covering other teams. I believe it’s time for fans to step back and re-evaluate. I do not plan to attend any of this year’s games, and am deleting the NBC app from my phone.
Mona Lemon, Madera
Social Security solution
It is becoming increasingly apparent that we need to do something about Social Security. The Republicans all want to cut it, including their nominee for president.
I have given this issue a lot of thought over the years and I have a simple but effective solution. Currently, working people pay roughly 6% of their income up to a maximum income of $160,000. Most working people do not reach that threshold, so they pay 6% of their income to Social Security.
Opinion
By contrast, someone who makes $1 million dollars a year pays 6% up to $160,000, then nothing. In this example they pay less than 1% of their income. There are a lot of people in this category.
The solution is simple: lower the Social Security tax to 5% (which benefits the middle class) but with no income limit. That way, everyone pays 5% of their income. This is not only inherently fair, but completely solves the issue of solvency of the program and gives working folks a break at the same time.
I think this would have broad appeal, and offer a concrete solution at little cost. Anyone making a ton of money can afford a 5% tax.
Randy Sacks, Coarsegold
On federal agencies’ power
Erwin Chemerinsky’s op-ed titled “Amazon, Trader Joe’s attempt to nullify government” (The Bee, March 11) is an attack on these companies’ contention that the National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional. Here is his reasoning:
1. If the contention is accepted, it will make “virtually every federal administrative agency unconstitutional.”
2. It is an attempt to “fundamentally change the nature of the federal government.”
3. “It would be extraordinary for courts to declare unconstitutional a federal agency that has existed since 1935 and whose constitutionality was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1937.”
This is remarkably weak reasoning. It says nothing about why it would be bad or wrong to rule every federal administrative agency unconstitutional. It says nothing about why it would be bad or wrong to fundamentally change the nature of the federal government. That something is “extraordinary,” assuming this is or would be, doesn’t make it wrong; and that one U.S. Supreme Court many decades ago ruled one way on the issue doesn’t make it right, as we can plainly see from the horrible decision of the Supreme Court in Plessy v Ferguson (1896) and, as abortion foes contend, the horrible decision of Roe v. Wade (1973) since overturned by the current court.
Wendell Stephenson, Fresno
Fresnans against gun violence
When I was 9, my childhood friend, Paul, was accidentally shot to death by a friend using an improperly stored firearm. The loss that I felt was rubbed raw again and again with each school shooting thereafter.
After the 2022 tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, I joined Enough Gun Violence/Brady Greater Fresno, whose members have dedicated themselves to the complex, multifaceted challenge of gun violence prevention. EGV/BGF is not anti-gun, but is devoted to reducing gun violence and accidental deaths.
Having guns in the house can increase the risk of suicide by 300%, so we wanted to actually help citizens secure their personal firearms. I reached out to the Fresno Police Department, and Chief Paco Balderrama agreed to assist us in increasing gun safety by providing us with more than 400 gun locks. We distribute these during public events, and provide educational material about gun violence prevention.
We want to publicly thank you, Chief Balderrama. For more information about our group activities, including our upcoming membership meeting on April 9, please visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/fresnobrady or email us atbradygreaterfresno@bradyunited.org.
Tess Johnson, Fresno
Conservative hogwash
I don’t know why the editorial board of The Bee keeps publishing opinion pieces that are promoting falsehoods about important issues. There have been two recently from writers at the Heritage Foundation that are so far away from truth, that publishing them does nothing more that muddy the waters and defeats honest dialogue.
The first one was authored by some “senior policy analyst” claiming San Francisco receives over $1 billion each year from the government to waste on the city’s “liberal agenda.” San Francisco is one of many cities that receive block grants from the federal government that total $1. billion cumulatively each year.
The other example comes from Steven Moore, who claims to be a “senior fellow” at the Heritage Foundation. His remarks are about Joe Biden’s “open border immigration policy,” which is currently finding favor among Trump Republicans. Nobody has ever had an “open border” immigration policy, except in their own minds. Moore fails to mention the recent bipartisan border deal that addressed much of the Republican concerns that was put together, and then rejected by the same Republican caucus, which contained the very provisions that he claims is needed in his opinion piece.
It is said that there are “none so blind as those who will not see.” That is a recurring theme at the Heritage Foundation. In this critical time in our nation’s history, where we face the destruction of a democracy for which millions have sacrificed their lives, the Heritage Foundation seems intent on making sure that the country goes down in a blizzard of half-truths and political innuendo.
Timothy McKeever, Fresno
