Letters to the Editor: January 19, 2023

And then it came ... like an unexpected gas bubble lodged in my chest after the start to a fine Hyde Park dinner ... David Lange’s guest column. Please tell me this guest columnist isn’t going to be the invited guest that seems to never leave. His views are so boring and monotonous that watching reruns of “Love Boat” may be what I have to turn to now. 2023 deserves better than this guy showing up regularly.

Oh, and being a conservative, I do agree with environmentalism (Ducks Unlimited and Trout Unlimited) and social justice (legal immigration).

Time to line the bird cage with the editorial section of the Times. Cheers!

Peter Hammonds

Chagrin Falls

Beware of manufactured crisis

This is an open letter to U.S. Reps. Max Miller, District 7, and Dave Joyce, District 14 regarding the debt ceiling.

Hello Mr. Miller and Mr. Joyce:

I’m writing to point out that, if a minority of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives unilaterally force a U.S. government shutdown and default, they will have succeeded in turning a manufactured political crisis into a global economic crisis. The full faith and credit of the U.S. would no longer be full, nor faithful.

China will gain an economic, political and public-relations advantage that will last far beyond your next election cycle, all caused by the unnecessary damage to America and to the global economy that, again, only a minority of House Republicans will inflict. Republicans have loudly stated that you want Congress to stand up to America’s enemy, the Chinese Communist Party, yet, by artificially creating a global economic crisis, you will actually strengthen the Chinese Communist government.

Even if a shutdown is avoided, a credible threat to the nation’s debt ceiling will ignite panic in financial markets; our stockholdings will fall. The credit worthiness of the United States of America will be questioned and will decline. The probability of throwing all 168,310,000 voters into a recession will be virtually insured, and the Republican Party will not escape blame.

The political theater and irrational posturing now being displayed over the debt ceiling will reduce U.S. GDP and cost your own constituents jobs and lost economic value, with no long-term benefit but with substantial long-term, irreversible damage.

Please don’t throw us constituents and America under a political bus.

Robert Chalfant

Bentleyville

Extremists would toss money

The Geauga County Planning Commission has issued what has to be one of the most bizarre extremist letters on record. With foolish and specious reasoning, they’re encouraging the County Commissioners to reject the return of transportation tax dollars already paid by Geauga citizens.

An organization called the Northeast Ohio Coordinating Agency distributes these already-collected tax funds for projects. If Geauga County were to opt out, the money would not return to us in Geauga. The money would simply be distributed to the surrounding counties. We would lose thousands of dollars annually. Sadly, an extreme group is willing to throw away our tax money because of a radical ideology.

At a public meeting in Middlefield Jan. 10 hosted by NOACA, one planning commission member jumped up at the beginning of the meeting and hollered, “We need for NOACA to get the hell out of Geauga County.” The disruptive behaviors, including jeering and name calling throughout the meeting made it impossible to listen to the presentation.

These behaviors were shameful. But the most shameful of all occurred at the end of the Middlefield meeting. After the meeting, it was deemed necessary for law enforcement to escort the NOACA presenters safely to their cars.

We can only hope that the County Commissioners will ignore this group who embarrass Geauga County and throw away our tax dollars simply in service of their strange ideology.

David Partington

Munson

Security video reveals scuffle

There are several misstatements in the Jan. 12 article “Chester police respond to scuffle at GOP meeting.” Foremost is the following:

When asked if she touched Mr. Ames, Mrs. McArthur said, “He was grabbing me,” and, “I wasn’t approaching him. He was approaching me.”

The security video shows otherwise. https://rumble.com/v25ey75-saturday-january-7-2023-metzenbaum-center-chesterland.-ohio.html

The video clearly shows Nancy McArthur grabbing my hood and pulling on it so hard as to pull my jacket down. It also shows that I was grabbing the door frame rather than Mrs. McArthur. My hands are visibly on the door frame throughout the encounter.

Brian Ames

Mogadore