Republican voters rejecting Betsy Price tells us all we need to know about our party

Oh, how the GOP has changed

It’s been a few weeks since the Republican Party primary elections, and I am still amazed at the results of the contest for Tarrant County judge. Betsy Price, a 10-year mayor of Fort Worth who also served several years as county tax assessor and collector, has the passion and compassion to improve the county and all its residents, rather than work daily for the betterment of one political party.

A candidate of Price’s stature and experience should have won walking away. That she didn’t shows that the party many of us worked so hard for so many years to build has been taken over by a small but hardworking and hard-hitting wing of the electorate. It will have far-reaching negative effects on the party.

- Jesse Pierrard, Fort Worth

Return to Trump’s policies

In response to the March 29 letter arguing President Joe Biden has earned our trust, (7A) let’s go through the list of problems. The Afghanistan withdrawal, increases in illegal immigration, crime and drug trafficking, a decrease in energy production, high inflation and gas prices, just to name a few. All this began with Biden taking office.

Returning to Donald Trump’s energy policies would be a good start. We have a weak man who is not strong or effective enough to be president.

- Michael Boniol, Arlington

A better energy solution

As gas prices keep rising, I hear folks blame the war in Europe, but I don’t think that’s the main issue. Prices were already rising. The trouble is that we keep trying to solve problems before we actually have solutions.

In the case of oil, it’s fine and dandy that we’ve reduced producing and using so much of it, but at the end of the day, we still need gas for our cars. If we would find a solution before we cut resource production, we could more easily transition away from fossil fuels.

- Grant Hanson, Denton

Water cuts alone aren’t enough

Recent news reports about California’s imposition of water cuts because of drought in the state fail to adequately address the role that climate change plays in these sorts of disasters. Climate change contributes to the gradual change of a region from a relatively wet region to a relatively dry one.

CBS News mentions that the U.S. is experiencing the worst mega-drought in 1,200 years, and humans’ excessive burning of fossil fuels is no help. This extreme heat and dryness hurts the climate, as well as the lives of humans and animals.

We must take action to prevent these side effects of climate change. Simply cutting water usage is not enough.

- Maryam Azhar, Euless

Progressives want to control you?

I agree with Ryan Rusak’s premise that local politics and policy decisions affect us more directly than national issues and need our attention. (April 2, 6A, “Bill Maher’s stand on progressivism is encouraging, but he’s missing this key point”) But I had a hard time getting past his comment about “progressives’ desire to control everything.”

I hear this thrown around by every right-winger, but I wonder why they don’t expand their thinking to the conservatives who want to control libraries, classrooms, college curricula, the opportunity to vote, women’s health, courtrooms and even our bedrooms.

Give me reasonable health care, fair elections, strong public schools and a healthier environment over vigilantes wandering the streets with guns. When did it become so evil to be progressive?

- Michael Wagner, Irving