I want to hear Gov. Cooper acknowledge the toll COVID restrictions are taking on NC 

Gov. Roy Cooper

It is time for Gov. Roy Cooper to acknowledge the cost of his COVID-19 mandates and policies.

The easy answer is “I am following the science.” He must acknowledge the cost in human-life-hours lost. Many people will lose their life savings invested businesses that will never reopen, or their homes. It’s easy to speak in terms of what might be lost if we don’t do this or that, but what about that which is certain to be lost because of what’s being done?

I want to hear the governor say he understands that thousands of people could lose their homes, thousands of businesses may close, and more people could become addicted to opioids or alcohol.

It is clear the governor is focused on saving the tree even if it means sacrificing the forest.

George Devlin, Raleigh

NC GOP leaders

Gov. Cooper is making the hard decisions to keep North Carolinians safe, decisions which will surely be distorted in campaign ads this fall. Instead of suing him over his executive decisions, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and other “open up” people should be demanding that our government respond with financial assistance to help the people of North Carolina through this crisis. This is our tax money, intended to be used for crises such as this. Instead, our legislature refuses to discuss further relief measures. All the while, many of these “law and order” Republicans defy state and local requirements to wear masks.

Laurie McDowell, Raleigh

Monuments

Regarding “Don’t point at the governor for NC monuments falling. Republicans are to blame,” (June 20 Editorial):

As this editorial stated, it is a law that bars removal of the statues from public property. If you don’t like the law, work to get it changed. It is not acceptable to deface them and pull them down. In fact, it is a crime.

Raleigh Mayor Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown and Gov. Cooper are all negligent in their duties, as they should actively stop this destruction of public property. Because they did not, they will face a day of reckoning. They have already shown their cowardice, capitulation and poor judgment in handling earlier protests — looting, riots, destruction of businesses and public property. A collective disgrace.

Glen Anderson, Raleigh

Teacher raises

N.C. Sen. Kathy Harrington’s June 22 op-ed, “NC Republicans have provided meaningful teacher raises,” truly distorts the Republican legislative record.

Soon after Republicans took control of General Assembly in 2011, teacher pay was restricted, teacher tenure was eliminated, and teaching assistants were laid off. The automatic pay increases previously given to teachers for getting an advanced degree was stopped, and the acclaimed Teaching Fellow’s scholarship program was canceled.

If Democrats voted against any teacher salary increases in 2014, 2016 and 2018 it was due to the concerns that the proposed raises were either inadequate or because the legislation contained some sort of “poison pill”: loss of teaching assistants, increased class size, vouchers for private schools, etc. This is the real story on Republican teacher raises.

Steve Mullinix, Chapel Hill

Law and order

I am fed up with those protesting in a non-peaceful way. This has to end for the survival of our great nation.

I am concerned that our elected leaders fear making a stand against such behavior because it may hurt their popularity and future position. That’s not why you were elected; you were chosen by the people to stand strong against those who jeopardize our community.

Your silence on these issues shows me you are weak and unable to do what you were elected to do. We must have law and order for our great nation to survive. Be brave and do your job. We need to support our good police and get rid of the bad ones.

David Radford, Durham

Safe elections

Experts predict that at least $4 billion is needed for people to be able to vote safely, and the U.S. Postal Service must also be fully funded. We know that President Trump does not seem to care about the Constitution and will stop at nothing, including asking foreign powers to help, to stay in office. If senators truly believe in the Constitution and democracy, they’ll stop blatant voter suppression and allow Americans to vote safely. Congress must provide $4 billion in emergency funding for elections.

Karen Ziegler, Durham

Electoral College

The will of the majority of voters in 2016 was ignored by an obsolete Electoral College that cast votes by state instead of using the popular vote. This system may have been feasible back in the 1800s, but not today. No presidential candidate should able to win the White House by losing by 3 million-plus votes. Winning the popular vote nationwide should be the only way a president is elected. The Electoral College should be abolished and no president should ever be elected again without a majority of the popular vote.

Don Haines, Fuquay-Varina