Idle thoughts on insurrection

While I wait patiently for baseball season to begin, I am wondering why Donald Trump, his wife and adult children, and all the white-collar conspirators both inside and outside the Congress as well as some federal agencies, have not been indicted and jailed for committing the greatest crime in U.S. history.

It’s been over two years now and not one of these people have been held accountable for trying to overthrow the legitimately elected government of the United States, otherwise known as treason! What more does the Justice Department need to know about the insurrection? Can you just imagine what would happen to you or me if we ever tried to organize an armed attack on any part of the government?

The next time someone tries to tell you that nobody is above the law in this country, you can just point to Trump and his sycophants as an example of how you can be above the law. Money (whether stolen like Trump has been able to do or earned legitimately) and power status have always given these types of people a great advantage over the rest of the American people. Just one time I would like to see them pay.

Merrick Garland, we’re waiting for you. Show us your mettle if you have any! These people deserve long jail sentences and I, for one, want to see them get what they deserve!

Thomas Franklin

White River Junction

Biden managing Ukraine well

The Valley News reports (“Americans’ support is softening,” AP, Page B3, Feb. 16) only a minority of Americans feel strongly that President Biden is managing the Ukraine war well. I respectfully disagree.

President Biden’s support for Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s aggression has been the glue to a renewed vigor of the NATO alliance. Putin never anticipated such unity.

Led by America, economic sanctions imposed on Russia have created havoc with the Russian economy. Russia has been excluded from global financial markets. Although these sanctions were not designed to have immediate military consequences, Russia’s economy has been degraded and its manufacturing is suffering due to no replacement machinery parts and electronics. Their army faces shortages of ammunition and replacement heavy weaponry.

Russia has been exposed as a superpower fraud in conventional warfare. They have shown no regard for logistics and have not progressed from the Czarist-era strategy of overwhelming opponents with massive numbers of soldiers, aka cannon fodder. Large numbers of their soldiers are therefore being killed and disabled. Replacements are going into combat with little training. Replacements are also increasingly difficult to arrange as Russian popular opposition to the war is increasing.

The global alliance fostered by President Biden has isolated Russia politically and economically. While Russia continues to generate funds by selling its abundant oil supplies, European solidarity fostered by the president is now resulting in policies to become independent of Russian oil.

Here is something that has not happened under President Biden: American servicemen and women have not been sent into harm’s way.

Russia and Putin have been wounded by their own hands and by the unexpectedly robust Ukrainian support from America and the Western allies. My question is, if this is not capable management across simultaneous and interlocking political, financial, economic, humanitarian and military domains, what does capable management look like?

Paul Etkind

Grantham

Let parents be responsible for their children’s education

In the most recent statistics on the New Hampshire Department of Education website, of the 100 juniors attending Stevens High School, 26 were proficient in math, reading and science. As a senior citizen whose children graduated decades ago in schools far away but who nonetheless relies on the local schools to attract young families that will transform Claremont into a thriving community, I find these test scores appalling.

How can this be? Some argue that the adequacy of education is measured in per-pupil spending. Enrollments have been shrinking, and spending is increasing. Some argue for imposing broad-based taxes, but they do not present a target student proficiency level. How much should we spend to reduce the number of students who aren’t proficient to 26?

The root cause of this crisis is a fundamental failure to partition responsibilities appropriately. Parents are, first and foremost, responsible for their children’s education. The state’s relationship to education is specified in the first sentence of article 83 of the state constitution, which states, in part, the duties of legislators and magistrates to cherish “the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools, to encourage private and public institutions.” It does not prefer public over private institutions. It does not say that education is mandatory. A somewhat open-ended list of topics does not state what proficiency levels constitute an adequate education. It does not say that everyone must receive the same education. It does say that taxes shall not be expended on religious schools.

How we got from the constitution to the Claremont II decision isn’t intuitively obvious. Yet, those that favor broad-based taxes use this judicial decision as the only correct interpretation of the constitution. The problem with judicial interpretation of the constitution is that they don’t always get it right. Examples include: Dred Scott v. Sandford — Negroes aren’t citizens; Plessy v. Ferguson — segregation does not violate equal protection; Buck v. Bell — forced sterilization supporting eugenics is constitutional; Korematsu v. U.S. – Japanese internment isn’t unconstitutional. The list is long, but there’s room to add Claremont II.

Let parents be responsible for their children’s education.

Kevin Tyson

Claremont

Social Security commentary leaves key points out

Regarding Ramesh Ponnuru’s commentary (“Social Security crisis a terrible thing to welcome,” Feb. 4):

“Conservatives” have opposed Social Security from its inception in 1935. They label its benefit an “entitlement.” This implies that the benefit is paid out of general tax revenue, and therefore contributes to the shortfall from which the national debt derives. The fact is that it derives from a specifically dedicated tax that is levied equally on wage earners and their employers. Therefore it contributes nothing to the national debt. Nor is it an “entitlement”; rather it is an earned benefit.

The revenue from this tax goes into a “trust fund,” from which benefits are paid out. Because of the increasing number of persons covered and their increasing longevity, the reserves that had accumulated in this fund are being drawn down. By about 2034 the fund will be exhausted. At that point Social Security can still pay out an estimated 75-80% of current benefits, based on the tax that continues to be levied. This scenario could be averted if Congress acted. For example: if the “cap” on the wage on which the tax is levied were raised, 43-90% of the projected gap could be closed.

The wealthier a taxpayer is, the lower, generally, is the portion of his income that is derived from wages alone, rather than from (possibly tax-advantaged) investments. There are instances, some prominent, in which taxpayers have claimed that they owe miniscule amounts of tax. Some corporations claim that they owe no tax at all. Also, omitted from discussion is the Republican tax cut of 2017, benefited primarily wealthier tax payers and corporations. I have seen no estimate of any potential impact of such matters on an increasing national debt.

That Mr. Ponnuru fails to acknowledge such matters, while speaking of “the biggest tax increase in 90 years” with respect to this “crisis” is therefore disingenuous.

What puzzles me is why Democrats have not made a major issue of a matter that must be considered to be of significant concern to the large number of Social Security recipients.

Boris G. von York

Springfield, Vt.

Joy and cookies and cocoa

In a world and times of such unrest and stress, imagine 45 minutes of pure listening joy and cookies and cocoa! For the first time the third and fourth grade choruses from Hanover Street and Mount Lebanon elementary schools and their dedicated teachers combined to present their winter concert the evening of Jan. 30 at the Hanover Street School.

The excellent choices of music were sung with great harmony and enthusiasm! In addition there were two solo instrumental performances, one on piano and one on violin. The audience left with uplifted feelings in their hearts.

Kudos to all the third- and fourth-grade singers and both teachers along with their great accompanists for an evening of enjoyment! Thanks also to the principals of both schools for supporting these young people in their musical endeavors.

Sandy Symonds

Lebanon

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