Greg Abbott dings Democrats for same kind of jets he took for almost a million bucks

Goose criticizing the gander

Gov. Greg Abbott has criticized Texas House Democrats for flying to Washington on “cushy private jets.” Texas Ethics Commission data shows that Abbott spent more than $941,000 of his political action committee’s money flying on private jets in 2019 and 2020. The Democrats have said they are also spending PAC money. So, Abbott is shading them for what he does exponentially.

- Jim Bates, Watauga

What is really suppression?

A letter writer argued Friday that the voter security laws that will be enacted are designed to suppress the vote. (15A) Is voter suppression making sure that a person can legally vote, or is it when a person who is not eligible votes and cancels out a legal vote? The latter is real voter suppression.

Look at the federal bill Democrats want to enact for our voting system. That sounds like real voter suppression.

- Gene Tignor, Emory

Let’s make voting easier

I will believe we need new voting laws when Republican lawmakers, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick sign a resolution or simply state that Joe Biden won and that the level of fraud that former President Donald Trump claims is a lie.

Easier measures for voting due to the pandemic did not result in widespread fraud or any that would significantly affect an election. So why the push for new laws, other than that your side lost? Voting is a sacred American right. Democrats don’t have an issue with showing IDs to vote. We have an issue with not making it easier.

- Keith Kindle, Aledo

The long slog isn’t over

New books detailing eyewitness accounts of authoritarian acts during the final days of the Trump regime should be reminders that our democracy is still threatened.

It seems inevitable that Donald Trump will run again in 2024.With states passing voting restrictions based on Trump’s “big lie” of voter fraud in the 2020 election, we must vote to defend the constitution and democracy in the 2022 midterms.

As a former history teacher, I will use an analogy from World War II: The battles of Midway and Stalingrad were turning points in defeating fascism, but the war wasn’t over for three more years. President Joe Biden’s victory was a turning point, but democracy is still threatened.

- Brian E. Rosson, Fort Worth

Democrats don’t really care

I want to remind those who think we should impose carbon tax legislation that the United States accounts for but 4.25% of the total world population. All of Europe is 10.7%.

Most of the world will continue cutting old-growth forests, building dirty fuel electric plants and driving vehicles that pollute. The restrictions that Democrats want to impose are purely for taxation.

- James Cain, Benbrook

Barely any pain to wealthiest

Infrastructure bills pending in Congress can be paid for quite easily. All Congress needs do is repeal the billionaires’ bailout known as the Trump tax cuts and restore the highest-tier tax rate to its previous level. It would barely pinch the fat cats and would not touch middle- or working-class taxpayers.

- Paul R. Schattman, Arlington

Looking outward pays us back

The COVID-19 vaccination rate is not where it should be to reach herd immunity, and the presence of the highly infectious delta variant is putting Americans’ lives in danger.

The answer lies in getting vaccinated. Health organizations are taking the initiative to distribute vaccines globally, and just as Americans should be able to make this decision, communities outside our borders should, too. The U.S needs to invest in global health.

Interning at The Borgen Project, a national nonprofit working to make poverty a focus of U.S foreign policy, has shown me the effectiveness of investing internationally. Furthering foreign assistance will protect U.S national security and quash the pandemic globally.

- Maria Roth, Flower Mound

Your dogs get shots, don’t they?

Please get your COVID-19 vaccination.

Being 68 years old, I appreciate vaccinations. I took a sugar cube vaccine in Travis Elementary School in Mineral Wells so I didn’t get polio. I had seen others who got the disease, and it made me sad.

Rabies vaccines made it safe for me to have a dog. Watch the films “Old Yeller” or “To Kill a Mockingbird” to see the devastating effects of rabies in dogs. If you love your dogs, you protect them with vaccinations. Do the same for your family.

- Bettye Sue Parker, Trophy Club