Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.
Left-wing billionaires
are funding Prop. 50
Re: “Hedge fund billionaire Steyer gives $12M to back Proposition 50 redistricting vote” (Page B6, Oct. 12).
If you are wondering how to vote on Proposition 50 gerrymandering, look no further than who is funding the “yes” campaign. Billionaires Tom Steyer and George Soros are pouring millions of dollars into it. These are far-left-wing elites.
They are not interested in the people or what is good for the state of California. They are only interested in increasing their stranglehold over voters. They are the power-hungry force behind all the terrible policies that are destroying California.
Gov. Gavin Newsom conjured up this gerrymandering scheme. He has created this costly special election, hoping that turnout will be low and that people won’t care.
We do care. We need to say no. Vote no on Proposition 50.
Jay Todesco
Concord
Citizens can flex
their economic might
Re: “Tech billionaire Marc Benioff says Trump should deploy National Guard to San Francisco” (Oct. 11).
My first reaction to this news was, “Who the hell cares what this guy thinks?” Do only billionaires’ voices matter? If Donald Trump rigs future elections, is peaceful protesting the only power we have? Not by a long shot.
Even as Trump tries to sabotage the power of the vote, we have the power of the purse. It worked on Disney during the Jimmy Kimmel fiasco. It will work on any company that sells to consumers. Www.goodsuniteus.com tracks corporate political donations. When, collectively, people stop shopping and subscribing to the brands that do not share their values, companies notice in a hurry. Trump may not listen to us, but he does listen to his billionaire buddies.
It may be time to start keeping corporate leaders up at night, watching their market shares tank. It may be time to remind billionaires that the money that drives this country comes from us.
Janice Bleyaert
El Sobrante
Cal must do more
to support students
UC Berkeley is regarded as the No. 1 public university. However, the students who make Berkeley great are facing hunger at an unacceptable rate. The 2022 UC Basic Needs Report shows that 47% of UC students have faced food insecurity.
I’m grateful for the opportunities this university has presented to me. However, a reason I and many other students hesitated in committing to Berkeley is due to the city’s basic cost of living. Attending Berkeley for most will be their greatest investment, so it should be on the university to support students contributing to the legacy of such an institution.
Currently, students can only visit Berkeley’s Basic Needs Center once a week, which is not enough for the students who rely on this resource the most. Working to expand on this resource could make a significant difference in the lives of thousands of the great minds we have at Berkeley.
Kennedy Jones
Berkeley
Medical community must
loudly denounce RFK Jr.
After eight months of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doing his best to unravel decades of advances in medicine and the development and use of tested and proven vaccines and medications that have saved millions of lives, saved millions of people from years of suffering, and prevented epidemics of many deadly and debilitating diseases — culminating in Donald Trump’s unhinged and unsubstantiated medical advice to America’s pregnant mothers not to take Tylenol because it causes autism in their children — I have one question: Where the hell has the medical community been?
The medical community in this nation has to stand up loudly to condemn and stop this devastation of what has allowed us all to live longer and healthier lives.
Michael Thomas
Richmond