A Trump-Abbott ticket for 2024? No way. But Texas AG Ken Paxton is the perfect choice | Opinion

Who has more in common?

Cynthia M. Allen makes a case for Donald Trump naming Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as his running mate. (April 14, 5C, “Abbott for VP? Here’s why he’s a good choice for Trump”) I would argue that state Attorney General Ken Paxton would be a better choice. That way, the entire ticket would have a history of demonstrably false statements, misuse of public funds, felony criminal charges, grand jury indictments and impeachments.

Does a ticket made up of shady characters at the top sound good?

- Owen Daniel, Fort Worth

Opposition on loans isn’t envy

LZ Granderson opines in his April 12 commentary that opposition to student loan forgiveness is based on envy. (13A, “Forgiving student loans is the least we can do”)

Hardly. My opposition (and that of most who oppose student loan forgiveness, I’m sure) has nothing to do with envy and everything to do with personal responsibility.

- Mark Swanson, Mansfield

It’s equitable to pay your way

Please tell the American taxpayer why we should pay for student loans for thousands of men and women who make more money than most of their fellow citizens who didn’t go to college, went to a trade school or paid for their schooling by working and with help from their parents.

Liberals love to whine about equity — so what is fair and equitable about any of this? Just pay your debt.

- Sandra Lewis, Joshua

Get more young people voting

Who is responsible for assuring that the 2018 law requiring Texas high schools to distribute voter-registration forms to 18-year-olds is enforced? A recent University of Houston study estimated that fewer than 25% of Texas schools were complying. That contributed to the decline in the share of 18-year-olds registered to vote in 2022 versus 2018, when 39.6% were registered.

Democracy’s effectiveness is directly proportional to the number of voters. Tarrant County high schools, please encourage your students to vote. Help them start the habit of exercising the privileges of citizenship by voting.

- Paul Hartman, Fort Worth

Card swipe fees hurt small biz

Rising credit card swipe fees — a percentage of the transaction charged to vendors in every credit or debit card sale — hurt small businesses across Texas. Entrepreneurs like me are tired of them.

Swipe fees are akin to a transaction tax that businesses fork over to big banks and credit card companies every time a customer uses a credit card. I run a modest-sized bookshop, and the extra expense makes it challenging to bring on full-time employees, let alone provide benefits.

Swipe fees have exploded because a duopoly dominates the credit card industry. Visa and Mastercard control 80% of the market and can jack up costs for businesses like mine without fear of backlash.

The Credit Card Competition Act now under consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee would help by injecting competition into the payments arena to lower costs across the board. I urge Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, who are on the committee, to help make entrepreneurship easier.

- Kelsey Black, Pflugerville

No, profit is not a bad word

Rents are controlled by supply and demand. When rents are limited by government, landlords do not have the income to make repairs or improvements. (April 19, 13A, “For affordable housing, we need rent control”)

Profit is not a bad word. When there is profit, investors will build more housing. If they take the risk and build more housing than the market demands, rents will stabilize or come down. If rents are controlled, will taxes and insurance be limited, too? Will the cost of repairs be subsidized?

- Dan Moore, Fort Worth