No virtue in compromise
Some contend compromising is a virtue and both political parties should cooperate and work together for the greater good. Unfortunately, we all have a different idea of what exactly the greater good is. So, who decides what is the greater good, and who decides who decides?
The founding fathers believed that liberty and personal responsibility are the highest state of man. The best way to achieve the greater good was to allow each to reap the rewards of their own labors. They were right of course, beholden to no one, following their dreams, laboring for themselves and their families. America became the most prosperous nation on Earth, others not so much.
We all agree that slavery, forcing someone to work for the benefit of others, is immoral. Yet, some believe taking money, which is the product of our labors for the benefit of others, is not evil. Voluntary acts of charity are truly noble endeavors, whereas coerced charity is little more than theft and economic slavery.
The left’s call for reconciliation is nothing but a sorry attempt to fool the gullible and advance their socialist agenda. When Trump was in office there was no spirit of cooperation, it was total war.
Pandering to socialist fantasies is a fool’s errand. No good can come from compromising with freedom’s adversaries. The left’s penchant for violence, disdain for civil liberties and intolerance bode ill for the future. Acquiescing to their demands will hasten our demise and spawn a future far removed from Utopia.
Mike Rodgick
Carson City
Hold leaders accountable on climate change
In response to Guy Farmers’ Nov. 13 column, I will point out the many positives of the COP26 summit. Agreements include:
Over 100 countries committing to end deforestation by 2030.
Over 100 countries committing to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
Agreements to phase out subsidies that lower the price of fossil fuels.
Commitments to increase money going to poorer countries to combat the effects of climate change and to switch to clean energy.
Financial organizations agreeing to back clean technology.
According to the Los Angeles Times, “the biggest breakthrough was unexpected. China and the U.S. — the world’s two largest climate polluters — said they would commit to ‘enhanced climate actions’ to keep global warming to the limits set in the Paris agreement. Most critically, the statement included a commitment to phase down coal.”
The Nature Conservancy makes this point: “Analysis of these latest commitments project that the pledges made in Glasgow have the potential to reduce global warming by 0.5°C – a significant stride toward the +1.5°C target.”
This will not stop the impacts of climate change. However, these commitments are meaningful and can be enhanced. This is why there will be another summit next year. This is why Congress is introducing bills such The Energy Innovation Act, which will put a price on carbon.
We need to hold our leaders accountable for these commitments. I imagine the 100,000 people who marched in the streets of Glasgow will help see to that.
Susan Potts
Carson City
Why do Americans pay so much more?
Why does the federal government allow “Big Pharma” to continually escalate prices for both old and new drugs when there is overwhelming public support (83%) to decrease the costs of prescription drugs?
Big Pharma has spent and will spend countless millions supporting politicians and lobbying both the public and Congress with a false narrative playing on consumer fears of government mandates on specific drugs and reduced research.
Some of the millions of dollars went to push a recent television disinformation ad campaign to scare all of us into thinking that any proposal to reduce drug costs would limit drug research and allow the government to decide what medications people on Medicare could get. To set the record straight, there is nothing in any current proposal that would allow the government to decide who gets what medication. Also, the drug companies research is already largely supported by government funding.
Did you know Medicare doesn’t have the authority to negotiate with Big Pharma on the price of drugs? A little known provision was inserted into the Medicare Part D bill in 2003 that banned allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Giving Medicare the authority to negotiate drug prices with Big Pharma would save billions that could be used to improve and expand health care coverage and drive down drug costs for all of us.
Let your legislator know that you support allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
Beth Mancl
Genoa
Humans causing floods?
Regarding Jon Nowlin’s criticism of a Guy Farmer column on climate (letter, Nov. 27): The woke crowd has replaced “weather” with “climate.” The New York Times attacked West Virginia U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin for protecting coal mining jobs at the expense of “choosing a future of climate caused flooding.”
So now floods come from human activity? WSJ publisher Gerard Baker debunked this allegation, pointing out that in 480 B.C. a freak storm wiped out half of Greece’s Salamis battle fleet. In 1935 the Yangtze River flooded, killing an estimated half million people.
WSJ columnist Holman Jenkins recently exposed woke environmentalism as strictly political. Road transport adds about 10.8% of global emissions. Our gas-powered cars sit idle 95% of the time. So does a Tesla, but it’s plugged into the same power grid we all share, charging its batteries and powering its many computers.
Teslas, and other electric vehicles, are made possible by copper, nickel, cobalt, and lithium mining. Building electric vehicle charging stations all across America and hooking them up to the grid will require those mines to run overtime to supply the materials to build them. It’s a sure bet every piece of construction equipment will be powered by fossil fuels.
Lynn Muzzy
Minden
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