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State’s leaders are
cause of high prices
Re: “Menu prices getting harder to swallow” (Page A1, May 21).
Despite claims of rising costs due to tariffs, March’s Consumer Price Index and April’s Producer Price Index showed the sharpest declines since the early pandemic days, and crude oil prices have dropped nearly 25% since Inauguration Day. Tariffs have also generated over $16 billion in revenue and are projected to generate $300 billion-$600 billion in external revenue by the end of this year. While prices are falling nationwide, California faces high gas prices ($4.87 vs. $3.18 U.S. average) and unaffordable housing ($904,210 vs. $407,600 U.S. average).
Because of failed leadership in Sacramento, California is being left behind. Instead of scapegoating the president for California’s high prices, look to your governor, the one-party supermajority dominating Sacramento, and the voters who keep them in power.
Jack Belgarde
Pacheco
MDUSD should find
radio station funding
Re: “Radio silence for Concord’s KVHS may be coming July 1” (Page A1, May 25).
Can the Mt. Diablo Unified School District walk and chew gum at the same time?
MDUSD’s test scores, like America’s generally, lag behind other advanced countries’ scores, causing skilled, well-paid jobs to go unfilled or to go overseas.
So, MDUSD’s Superintendent Adam Clark’s comment, “So do I not focus on that and put resources into a radio station?” makes sense at first glance.
But with 2024-25 General Fund revenues of $491 million, it’s hard to believe MDUSD is unable to find $35,000 to keep an important and popular community resource like KVHS up and running.
Students are told to think creatively — MDUSD should do the same.
Harlan Strickland
Martinez
If you’re not rich,
tax bill is bad news
Re: “House passes tax bill that would wipe away clean energy tax credits” (Page A4, May 23).
Donald Trump’s tax bill passed the House last week. It’s headed to the Senate and may soon be signed into law. It will be an absolute windfall for the richest 1% and crumbs for everyone else. It will explode the national debt, just like last time.
The bill includes severe cuts to Medicaid and food stamps. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that the cuts will not affect deserving recipients, but will only target “waste, fraud and abuse.” Sound familiar?
It reminds me of the old adage, “The problem isn’t that the poor want too much, it’s that the rich will never be satisfied.”
Jim Peterson
Walnut Creek
Trump’s ludicrous
behavior is unifying
In Donald Trump’s America, we need to start using the word “ludicrous” in a deeply bipartisan manner.
Make Canada our 51st state? Ludicrous. Turn the island of Alcatraz back into a prison? Ludicrous.
It is deeply disturbing to witness the direction of our large and diverse country on many fronts as we accommodate Trump’s second term. I am grateful for the East Bay Times, as well as other forms of traditional journalism that I consume. I know that I am in very good company in being outraged and insulted on a daily basis by the Trump administration.
I protest at every opportunity, as does almost every other member of my community.
Elizabeth Preston
Oakland
Trump supporters, is
this what you wanted?
Donald Trump has always been an immoral and corrupt human being. His latest round of pardons to those found guilty of tax evasion, fraud and more only contributes to his reputation of favoring those who praise him (and give him money) and punishing or threatening with punishment those who don’t. Our felon-in-chief is leading us to a government more like that of Hungary than the one our Founding Fathers imagined.
To those who voted for him, are you really sure this is what you wanted?
Richard Ackerman
Castro Valley
Racial classifications
keep us divided
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Relic, subjective, arbitrary, pseudo-science and divisive racial classifications fuel America’s dissension. “Black” and “White” polarization pits Americans against each other. The federal government, via Census designs, creates and undergirds segmentation. The decennial Census and the American Community Survey fragment America’s demographic. The Census’ ethnic assignments and racial categorization foster mistrust, hyper-competitiveness and separation. “Black,” White” and other designations tax America’s soul.
Racial classifications chisel chasms. Fissures provide opportunities for charlatans and demagogues. Utilization of racial classifications wears the fabric of the nation. The government can meet its obligations without superficial demarcations. Let’s shelve racial classifications.
R. Okpara Danjuma
Oakland