3/3Letters: Meadows performance at hearing shameful

Mark Meadows set a new low

In watching the House Oversight Committee hearings with Michael Cohen, one thing became clear. Despite their rhetoric, most of these of these members of Congress have more allegiance to their party, and likely their own self-preservation, than they do to their country.

Everyone on both sides acknowledged that Cohen was an extremely flawed witness.

However, one side, led by our own U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, clearly was there solely to badger and discredit the witness at any cost – as if Cohen needed more discrediting.

Meadows’ shameful performance set a new low for N.C. politicians, despite the already low bar we have seen recently.

A familiar plot playing out in DC

As I watched Michael Cohen’s public hearing I felt the sense of déjà vu. The plot seemed vaguely familiar and finally I realized I was actually seeing an enactment of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairytale “The Emperor’s New Clothes” right before my eyes.

In this case, Cohen was playing the role of the child who cries out as the emperor parades past: “But he hasn’t got anything on!”

Interesting how history repeats itself, even when it is a fairytale from long ago.

Light rail isn’t the best option

Recent attention has concentrated on the difficulties at the Duke hospitals end of the Durham-Orange light-rail project. The problems at the UNC-Chapel Hill hospitals end are even greater and have been swept under the rug.

The area around the UNC-Chapel Hill hospitals is already extraordinarily congested. The proposed pathway on U.S. 15-501 and Manning Drive will seriously impact more than one residential neighborhood. Many trees and much of the Coker Pinetum and Meeting of the Waters Creek natural area owned by the university will be devastated. The planners have ignored concerns and protests about this.

Given the problems and the dubious prospects for sustainable ridership, it is time to consider alternative ideas, including dedicated bus lanes on U.S. 15-501.

Tillis did the right thing for NC

I was positively impressed by Sen. Thom Tillis’ commitment to vote to overturn President Trump’s national emergency declaration.

The president wants to fund his border wall by diverting money from disaster relief and military construction, but these are not luxuries!

North Carolinians rely on relief funding to put their lives back together after disasters like Hurricane Florence. Our military families at Fort Bragg and elsewhere, who have already sacrificed much for our country, should not forgo already-planned construction projects that keep them safe and maintain their quality of life.

As Tillis recognizes, the long-term implications are even more troubling. Should this president successfully seize Congress’s power of appropriating funds, then our nation would be left vulnerable to the whims and prejudices of future presidents, who will inevitably use this trick to fund their own pet projects.

Tillis is to be commended for his integrity and leadership on this issue. I hope Sen. Richard Burr will join him in declaring his own commitment to block this dangerous plan.

Limit obscene drug profits

Right now Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, as well as my U.S. Rep. George Holding, have an opportunity to help save lives.

I urge them to support legislation that will force giant pharmaceutical companies to negotiate affordable prescription drug prices with Medicare or else have their patents revoked and generic versions produced at lower costs.

Medicare Part D pays on average 73 percent more than Medicaid and 80 percent more than the VA for brand-name drugs. Medicare could save $16 billion a year if it secured VA prices.

I want my elected officials to demonstrate that they prioritize health and common-sense savings over obscene profits. Please vote to pass the Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act. People shouldn’t die because they can’t afford the high price of medications.

Judge ignored the will of voters

Once again, we have an activist judge arrogantly placing his own political views above the will of the voters. (“Voter ID, income tax cap ruled invalid,” Feb. 23)

Wake County Superior Court Judge G. Bryan Collins ruled that two recently passed N.C. constitutional amendments were “unconstitutional.”

A lawsuit was filed prior to the election asking that these amendments be removed from the ballot, but the court allowed them to go to the voters, who approved both. Thus, they became part of the North Carolina Constitution. To say that a part of the Constitution is “unconstitutional” is an oxymoron.

Collins’ ruling was fair and just

Regarding “A liberal ruling does NC liberals no favors” and “Nothing 'wild-eyed' about judge's ruling on legislature's legitimacy” (Feb. 27) :

From a moral and ethical standpoint, should N.C. representatives and senators take office if their election to those offices arises from illegal gerrymandering? If they do, are they not then complicit in the gerrymandering and therefore unfit to hold those offices?

Gerrymandering is not fair and does not fit with the principles of democracy. There should be appropriate consequences for such misbehavior.

Judge Collins’ ruling was not a “liberal” – or conservative – ruling; it was a fair and just ruling. It was also not “overreaching” “judicial activism.” Instead, it was an appropriate consequence for misbehavior.

I thank Collins for reaching toward the truth.

#MeToo: Today’s McCarthyism

The #MeToo movement seems to have jumped the shark. There is are various devices that allow people to make accusations anonymously with no evidence. Careers are ruined without due process. A modern day witch hunt that seems to have no end.

This witch hunt is so reminiscent to us of a certain age of McCarthyism. As a child I thought McCarthy was a hero because he was always on TV. Hundreds of reputations were damaged. In the end shaming won out.

Liberals have spent decades screaming “McCarthyism” when it suited them. The silence is deafening today.

This “believe the victim at all costs” syndrome should be stopped.