Commuter rail: It’s not the right time for this Triangle transit plan. | Opinion

Commuter rail

Regarding “Which section should come first in Triangle commuter rail?” (Jan. 19) and related articles:

What? The same folks who managed to waste $157 million on the Durham light rail project — GoTriangle — now want us to back them again. Fool me once — but not again. Not only has the rise in remote work put a crimp in the logic behind this regional transit plan, but it does nothing to address most of the Research Triangle Park workers who live in North Raleigh.

This is definitely an idea whose time has come and gone — and definitely the wrong folks behind this.

Ben Owens, Raleigh

RDU parking

Regarding “RDU airport wants to build thousands of parking spaces, seeks public feedback first,” (Jan. 8):

It is unfathomable that Raleigh-Durham International Airport would consider cutting down more trees to build yet more cheap and environmentally destructive, climate harmful, backward-looking surface parking before the state and region provides more equitable, time-efficient and safer transit access to the airport and other major locales.

I cringe for a future, which seems increasingly near, when we will live in one huge, flooded parking lot. That will solve congestion once and for all.

Libby Thomas, Chapel Hill

Mass shootings

These mass shootings — 39 of them already in the first three weeks of this new year — are gruesome and unbearable.

Semi-automatic guns and high-capacity magazines are weapons designed for combat. By failing to pass sane legislation regarding them our governmental institutions have allowed our cities to become combat zones.

Members of Congress, cowed into inaction by the gun lobby, have been able to enact only the weakest restrictions on these lethal armaments. And our Supreme Court Justices have given us a questionable ruling on private citizens’ “right to bear arms.”

These two powerful governmental bodies bear much of the blame for consigning us to this all-too-frequent and painful national horror.

Joe Moran, Durham

Rule change

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore is proposing a rule for no-notice snap votes that he can call whenever he sees a few moments in which he can muster a majority partisan vote.

This is a naked play for simple partisan advantage that either party might seek when it is to their short-term advantage. The short term advantage of such a no-notice rule is far out-weighed by the longer-term need for a government that is, rather than merely seeming to be, honorable and fair in its basic processes.

Citizens and legislators all need to know the agenda for what and when issues will be considered.

Please do not try to take North Carolina down this smelly moral rabbit hole.

Michael Rulison, Raleigh

NC legislature

Our new legislature has been sworn in. The question on my mind: Will they fairly represent the people of North Carolina, or will they use trickery to reach goals by sidestepping the democratic process? I believe in the democratic process they are sworn to uphold. Calling for a vote without fair notice is a betrayal of their oath of office.

This year, critical decisions that impact our health will be made, including Medicaid expansion and reproductive rights. We must not undercut essential freedoms for our people because someone had to go to the bathroom when a vote was called without notice.

I call on everyone elected to the General Assembly to support fair procedures that will allow all of them to cast their votes on key issues that affect North Carolinians.

Marilyn Clayton, Wendell

Debt crisis, again

As we lurch towards another debt crisis, we have to remember what this is all about, tax cuts for the rich.

We have a deficit crisis because Reagan authorized massive upper income tax cuts, while claiming that actual income would rise. It didn’t. In the 40 years since, every time we are in danger of paying down our debt, the GOP pushes another round of upper-income tax cuts under Bush, Bush II, and then Trump. These never help working families, never boost the economy, all they do is create deficits. Then, the GOP turns on everyone else and demands we stop investing in our children, our seniors, and our infrastructure to be “responsible.”

There is nothing responsible about trashing public finances to pay back your party’s rich investors, and nothing moral in lying about your goals. This is yet another manufactured crisis to protect the rich, above all else.

Collin Lynch, Raleigh

Food insecurity

According to the Orange County United Way, roughly 300,000 residents in the county are food insecure, including many seniors. It’s important that we continue to advocate for development and funding of programs that address food insecurity in our elderly population. As a fourth year medical student at UNC-Chapel Hill, I unfortunately see many seniors who are food insecure and often unaware of local resources, such as the Senior Grocery Program of Second Harvest Bank, Meals on Wheels, and the Congregate Nutrition Program to name a few. We must work together to do more to reduce food insecurity among the most vulnerable in our community.

Miranda Crouch, Chapel Hill