Many young families are struggling. Here’s how Biden’s bill would help.

Biden’s bill

Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis should vote for the Build Back Better Act. It is time we invest in our most valuable resource — the people of this country.

If we give people a helping hand, it will unleash the creative energy that has gotten this country so far. Think about what the GI Bill did to move the country forward and expand the middle class.

The challenges today for young families are huge, much bigger than what we faced at their age. I’m sure everyone knows families struggling to pay for child care and rent.

My kids (two professionals with jobs) can’t even think about a mortgage while paying $32,400 per year for child care. Another daughter isn’t sure about having kids amid a pending global climate catastrophe.

Let’s stand behind these young people and make this country a thriving place for families.

Cheryl Mitchell-Olds, Durham

Filling jobs

The infrastructure bill has passed bringing many jobs in the next few years. Great! But where will these workers come from?

Retail and restaurant businesses are floundering or closing because they can’t find workers. Industries such as trucking, medical work, and education are suffering due to vacant jobs. How do you fill thousands of new jobs when I can’t even go to one of my favorite restaurants at night because no one wants to work?

Businesses that already exist need help. Could it be that people are receiving enough money from the government that they do not see a need to work? I don’t know the answer, but filling the jobs we have now would help our economy more than a promise down the road.

Evelyn Hill Spence, Raleigh

Wake housing

According to “Triangle housing vs. Triangle income. A look at the numbers,” (Nov. 16), the average weekly wage in Wake County increased 30.2% from 2014 to 2019, but rent increased 61.4%.

Many people can no longer afford to live in Wake. Why? Because developers and state and local officials thrive on tax incentives for relocating businesses which then bring their highly paid non-North Carolinian workforce to inhabit new, upscale apartments — without providing commensurate affordable housing.

North Carolinians are literally paying business to come here to ultimately displace them from their homes. Unless meaningful affordable housing policy is put into place for all development, urbanization will be monochromatic and sadly lacking in diversity of people, spirit, art and culture.

Tony Quartararo, Raleigh

Climate urgency

The writer was an official observer at the Glasgow climate talks.

I disagree that the climate “compromise” reached in Glasgow “gives us a very clear guidance on what we need to do in the coming years.” “(UN climate boss: ‘Good compromise’ beats no deal on warming,” Nov. 15)

It does not. Climate scientists insist nations need to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 to avert heating of the planet beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius by mid-century. The Glasgow compromise doesn’t reflect this urgency. It merely “requests” that nations come back next year with more ambitious plans for cutting their emissions.

I believe any hope lies with the global rising of young people who are demanding immediate actions to safeguard their future. As one young woman told me in Glasgow, “the hesitancy inside the meeting rooms is dooming the world in which I will be living.”

Robert Cox, Pittsboro

Speed cameras

I thank the N&O and Charlotte Observer for the coverage of extreme speeding and the fact that fatal crashes are increasing even though people are driving less. (Nov. 16)

The most recent article quoted a state senator questioning whether speed cameras would slow people down. They do. Research shows that the cameras slow people down and reduce injury and fatal crashes.

The Federal Highway Administration recently classified speed safety cameras as a “proven safety countermeasure” worthy of widespread implementation.

Reducing travel speeds and speeding is one of the most important things transportation agencies, elected officials, and the public can do to protect people traveling by foot, bike and vehicle.

Kristen Brookshire, Chapel Hill