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Downtown complaints
product of our isolation
Re: “Poll: 80% decry big Bay Area downtowns” (Page A1, Oct. 1).
Times have changed. Malls are going out of business. The flight to suburbs and gated communities continues. Too many hours are spent at work, commuting and on social media. The complaints about downtown are a symptom of our changing society. People find themselves isolated from other people including their own families and neighbors.
Since Oakland was mentioned prominently in the article I will give a shout-out to “Friday Nights at OMCA.” I stumbled upon it after visiting the Oakland Museum of California one Friday before the pandemic and am glad to see that it is still operational. Food trucks are also used where I live for “Fremont Street Eats,” also on Friday nights. Basically street parties with food and live entertainment.
Start small and be inclusive.
Richard Jones
Fremont
No protection from
Congress’ foolishness
The editorial cartoon on Page A13 on Oct. 1 pictures Rep. Kevin McCarthy unscathed in the aftermath of the federal government shutdown.
Yes, it is averted, for another 45 days. This means the government again has not done its job and just kicked the can farther down the road. They have resolved nothing. A shutdown would directly affect our military, TSA (and all the passengers), Head Start programs, national parks and all their families.
Who will it not affect? Congress. They are immune from the payroll stoppage. They, who are the only ones who could prevent it, will not lose a single paycheck. They should be the first ones impacted. And to incentivize them to do the job they are already being paid for, they should not be reimbursed after the problem is resolved.
They are sworn to protect us from all enemies — foreign and domestic. But who can protect us from our own domestic enemies?
Jim Cauble
Hayward
Congress shouldn’t be
paid for job not done
While most of our government employees were being threatened, once again, with no pay, the politicians responsible for the problem don’t seem to have ever considered that they caused the problem and should not be paid for the days they did not solve the problem.
How many politicians offered to give up their paychecks to fund payments to the military or border patrol members and others who do their jobs?
How about putting their pay up to a taxpayer vote rather than letting them choose their own compensation? Don’t do the job you were elected to do, don’t get paid. Problem solved.
Midge Lewis
Castro Valley
Child Tax Credit will
help nation prosper
Why is it that conservatives seem to be more concerned about rich people in the United States being allowed to hoard money than they are about poor families trying to feed their children?
Allowing the Child Tax Credit to die was just wrong in the richest country on earth. If you want to expand the economy, allowing poor families to spend money on food, clothing and extras for their children puts money into local economies and helps everybody. Rich people storing money in tax-exempt havens and overpriced stocks do not move economies. We believe we should feed, clothe and educate all children.
That is how you make a great and prosperous country.
Bill and Tari Nicholson
Martinez
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Comic promotes
irresponsible pet owners
I enjoy reading the comics to get a few moments of peace after reading the news. I know ahead of time some comic strips have political slants. I don’t expect Lynn Johnston’s “For Better or Worse” (Page B15, Sept. 29) to be the one that upsets me the most.
The family is so excited their dog is going to be a “daddy.” Promoting how excited the family is for the new puppies when dogs in animal shelters are euthanized every day due to overcrowding is irresponsible.
Corinne Lashley
Pleasant Hill
