1/22 Letters: We’re living in a great economy? That isn’t happening in my NC county.

A great economy?

Jay Ambrose’s Jan. 20 op-ed (“Trump economy a worry for Democrats”) would be laughable if it were not so tragic. He feels sorry for Democrats because the economy is so great, only 3.5 percent unemployment. Please visit my county, Carteret, where I know families in which both parents work two part-time jobs — without health insurance — and cannot feed and clothe their children, pay rent and bills.

Ambrose fails to discuss the relationship between cost of living and wages. Isn’t traditional capitalism supposed to respond to a shortage of labor with increased wages? That isn’t happening in my county.

If you are living in the U.S. and work in this economy, you deserve a living wage. Rich employers get bonuses and tax cuts. Democrats would do well challenging Republicans on this economy.

Lela Faye Rich, Morehead City

Budget impasse

As last year’s budget has yet to be entirely passed, one wonders about the stubborn intransigence of N.C. legislators regarding Medicaid expansion — a policy which would retrieve North Carolinians’ federal tax dollars. Instead, the tax dollars we’ve already paid to the treasury are being used for Medicaid expansion in 37 other states. Really?

Sally Eckert, Henrico

A political stunt

Why do Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi want all those new witnesses for the impeachment trial when they said they have overwhelming, indisputable evidence to convict President Trump? Why are they wasting America’s tax dollars on this false attempt to discredit him? Pelosi and Schiff will go down in history as two people who could outperform Pinocchio in the Geico commercial. The American people see right through this political stunt.

John Skrabak, Raleigh

Allow witnesses

Innocent people want to be proven innocent. Our president has refused to release documents, emails and text messages. Even worse, he has refused to let people who have first-hand knowledge of the events testify.

If the Senate does not require that this defendant release this evidence and allow these witnesses to testify, we can only conclude that the Senate is complicit in corrupting our democracy.

Don Francisco, Pittsboro

GlaxoSmithKline

Big Pharma gets a lot of bad press, and I believe much of it is deserved. So I was delighted to see the article regarding a vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline to combat malaria. After almost two decades of development, the vaccine has the potential to prevent the devastating effects of the disease. It should be noted that malaria is present largely in underdeveloped countries. Thus, there is no way the company will recoup its development costs. Yet it remains committed to continued development and to making the vaccine available. Kudos to GlaxoSmithKline for being a good global citizen.

Tom Vitaglione, Raleigh

Finance class

So, N.C. high schools will soon be teaching personal finance, otherwise called “the value of a dollar.” Good luck with that. It won’t be long before bright young students start asking teachers: Why do I have to pay taxes when Amazon pays no taxes? Why is our minimum wage so low? Huh, a Wall Street hedge fund multimillionaire only pays taxes at a 15 percent rate?

Perhaps an ambitious student might write a term paper for extra credit, titled: “How Sen. Thom Tillis will pay for his re-election campaign.” The course will be taught by teachers who are poorly paid and underappreciated, so you can guess what the answers might be.

Jerry Campane, Wake Forest

Let parents teach

I think it’s a mistake to sacrifice any high school history class for a course in financial literacy. Many of our state’s financial wizards would be happy to offer a free Saturday course or two to those students seriously interested.

All young people need to be taught geography, American and world history so they can assume the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Parents need to teach financial literacy.

Karen Wiebe, Raleigh

Sense of safety

Last Sunday my wife I attended our granddaughter’s volleyball tournament near the airport. One by one, military planes took off and created a loud noise.

What happened next was very sad. A 12-year-old girl turned and looked at us wide-eyed and said: “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you say those are military planes. Are we OK?”

We told her why the planes were at RDU and assured her we were all safe. As grandparents, it made us put into perspective how our youth is digesting the current state of society. We all, particularly children, want to know that we are safe.

It was a good reminder that words and actions matter. Our children are listening.

Chuck Liles, Raleigh