Texas’ power grid is a disaster. And the answer from Austin is to sell bonds?

Those are strikes in my book

Gov. Greg Abbott has agreed to allow liquor to-go sales at  restaurants. (May 13, 1A, “Abbott signs alcohol to-go into law”) Does that make the roads safer? He has also agreed to allow more guns with few restrictions. Does that help keep police officers safe? And I see Donald Trump has endorsed Abbott for reelection.

There are three reasons for me not to vote for Abbott again. 

- Harold L. Smith, Arlington

Don’t pretend this isn’t the point

Cynthia M. Allen’s Sunday column, “Texas voting bill isn’t ‘Jim Crow 2.0,’ and Dems should like much of what’s in it” (C5) about Republicans’ proposed changes to Texas voting laws ignores that most of those changes are aimed at limiting voting hours and options for large urban areas, which trend Democratic.

What is so terrible about innovations such as 24-hour early voting, drive-through voting or making applications for mail-in ballots widely available? Regardless of what you call it, this is an effort by Republicans to suppress voting by likely Democratic voters, such as minorities and young people.

- Don Davidson, Bedford

American wealth is out of whack

Complaints about President Joe Biden’s proposed tax increases make me wonder just how many people in Dallas-Fort Worth make more than $400,000 per year, since that is the minimum income for tax increases.

Then we have the people who think it’s best to give the tax cuts to large corporations, because they will make sure the money is invested and returned to workers in the form of pay increases. Where have these people been living?

The top 1% of Americans have more than 15 times greater wealth than the bottom half of the population. Something has gone very wrong when there is that much of a difference in wealth.

- Brett E Grenvall, Venus

We must return to Trump policies

President Joe Biden has given Vice President Kamala Harris another job. Apparently, there is no job she isn’t qualified to ignore. 

James Fredrick’s commentary on migrants in the eEdition’s Xtra Opinion section Friday outlines that we have been providing housing, food, legal services, education and medical services to other countries. (Page 2, “As Harris heads to Central America, it feels like deja vu all over again on immigration”) As he correctly wrote, sending Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras money won’t solve the problem, either.

They keep coming, no matter — except under former President Donald Trump’s policies.

- Lucille Bida, Arlington

Not doing right by the nation

Why doesn’t Sen. Joe Manchin just join the Republicans so he can help them complete their destruction of  our democracy? He is a disgrace to the Democratic Party.

- Bonnie Hromcik, Benbrook

Bonds not the answer on energy

So, the Legislature’s answer to the power grid disaster is for the state to sell bonds so ratepayers and businesses can bear the cost of weatherization. (June 6, 4C, “Has Legislature done enough to keep electricity flowing as summer heat nears?”) This is not a solution. It is an effort to extend the scam and allow power producers and retailers to reap windfall profits even while failing to produce enough electricity in extreme weather.

This would force co-op members to pay even though our power supplier, Brazos Electric Power, continued to generate through the whole extreme cold snap this winter. By implementing well-managed rolling blackouts, they had enough power to send to those in need. Our co-op and its members should have been rewarded for this extra power sent to others.

- K.D. Boyd, Granbury

This story was originally published June 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Texas’ power grid is a disaster. And the answer from Austin is to sell bonds?."