Enough with the COVID lottery winners. Here’s what the NC governor should do.

Cooper on COVID

Gov. Roy Cooper keeps showing off his million-dollar COVID lottery and scholarship winners and noting that people who get vaccines going forward can get $100 cash rewards.

I have some questions for him: Why don’t all those who got vaccines as soon as they were “allowed” get a cash prize? And why are nonessential state government employees going back to offices if they can do their jobs at home?

Let’s do some common sense things in North Carolina like a statewide mask mandate and encouraging employers, including those in Cooper’s Cabinet, to ask staff to continue teleworking.

Enough of the data. We need more real-life solutions. And I want my cash prize!

Lilleth Johnson, Raleigh

Fund the courts

As the legislature draws up North Carolina’s budget, they’re considering tax cuts. They should be paying attention to our court system, which has been underfunded for decades.

Advocates for education are organized, vocal and effective in getting their voices heard. Those caught up in the criminal justice system have none of those resources. The majority are poor, Black and Hispanic. They have no one to advocate for them in front of the legislature.

The Administrative Office of the Courts prepares reports for the legislature, but their voice hardly matches the emotion and volume of education champions.

Before considering tax cuts for the comfortable, wealthy and corporations, legislators need to pay attention to “those of the least of us” and fully fund the court system.

Eleanor Kinnaird, Chapel Hill

Election reform

Regarding “Ted Cruz is right! Congress needs term limits,” (Aug. 19 Opinion)

Ted Cruz is wrong. So is op-ed writer William Natbony. The solution is campaign finance reform and an end to gerrymandering.

With public financing of elections, every candidate is given the same amount of money to spend on their campaign and no other funding can be used. This would allow our legislatures to spend 100% of their time working on their job instead of spending half their time raising money for their next campaign.

It would eliminate the influence of their financial supporters and greatly reduce the power of lobbyists. And, it will attract more talented people to enter politics.

Term limits will not be necessary because voters will have a real choice in each election cycle. The best legislatures will be returned to their positions and the others will be replaced.

Ted Dunn, Pittsboro

Redistricting

Now that Census results are in, it’s almost time for our Republican-controlled legislature to start redrawing district maps. They’re already sharpening their pencils.

This time, though, it will be more difficult to gerrymander the maps because most of the state’s recent growth occurred in urban districts, like Raleigh and Charlotte, which likely means more Democratic voters.

But I’m sure that our indomitable and creative map drawers can find a few more gerrymandered districts, as long as our court system will step aside.

One question, though: How do our Republican friends embrace a party that can only win elections by cheating?

Joe Lyons, Burlington

Teaching CRT

Regarding “NC Bishops: Critical Race Theory bill sets NC on the wrong path,” (Aug. 16 Opinion)

If taught in our lower level schools, little white children, without a racist bone in their bodies, will learn that they are burdened with white privilege and born with membership in an oppressive collective.

Little Black children and other children of color, born without hate, will learn that they are born into an oppressed collective.

Those of us who grew up within truly racist environments where “white privilege” was enforced by law know all too well where Critical Race Theory dogma will lead: a tragic and avoidably racist separation and mutual hatred.

It is not an act of courage to affirm CRT; it is an act of cowardice not to oppose it.

Yes, let’s make sure our history accurately includes the good and the bad, without one more sad manifesto clouding the effort.

Norman Robertson, Wake Forest