No, Roger Williams: Trump is not a good CEO, and the U.S. isn’t a business | Opinion

Leadership

Rep. Roger Williams contends that President Donald Trump used his business skills to make a good decision on Iran. (June 29, C7, “Trump didn’t view Iran strike like typical politician — and it worked”) I have been in the oil and gas business my entire career, and I have seen what a good CEO is. Williams may be one, but Trump is not.

A good CEO knows the value of education, health insurance for a company’s workers and efficiencies in the workplace. A good CEO would not cut educational research, add trillions in debt to the bottom line, threaten job losses to get his way or take a hatchet to entire programs that make a company better. A good CEO is not autocratic but treats workers with respect.

Besides, our country is not a for-profit business.

- Deb Mann, Austin

Won’t forget

I am appalled that Republican leaders in Congress have forced through their budget reconciliation bill. This legislation disproportionately benefits the wealthiest, while many working families will see their benefits reduced.

Americans striving to escape poverty will find it harder to do so. Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program mean families may go hungry, and threats to Medicaid will make basic health care unavailable to many.

I am grateful to the lawmakers who listened to their constituents and voted no. To those who supported this bill: Your vote was a betrayal of fairness, compassion and democratic responsibility. We will not forget.

- Craig Roshaven, Fort Worth

Erasing history

Fort Worth recently honored our LGBTQ community with a proclamation declaring June as Pride Month. Meanwhile, Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare recognized Pride Month by rescinding a Fort Worth application for a historical marker recognizing LGBTQ history in Tarrant County. (June 29, 14A, “Fort Worth LGBTQ+ marker applicant plans to restart process following rejection”)

If, as stated, the application for the marker skipped some bureaucratic requirement, it could not possibly have mattered to the judge. This homophobic and transphobic action erases a story of Fort Worth that the city wanted to honor.

- Reed K. Bilz, Fort Worth

Money wasted

I understand the need to rid America of dangerous and unworthy people who are here illegally. But I am perplexed about why we spend exorbitant amounts of money searching for, processing and deporting hardworking immigrants, even if here illegally. Why can’t we devise a more efficient means for upstanding immigrants to become American citizens?

Many of us have forgotten that we are the offspring of immigrants. We are continually fed grossly exaggerated information to create fears about immigrants and spur support of outlandish government action. This fear drives us to hate. We can do better.

- Rod Heitschmidt, Granbury

Dun-dun

Fifty years ago, I was a TV news reporter in Corpus Christi when “Jaws” was released. I had spent a lot of time at Padre Island swimming and fishing. One seldom ventured into deep water without a boat for fear of meeting large fish or eels, but I had never heard of anyone being attacked by a shark.

The Coast Guard took me up in a helicopter, and we flew over the waters beyond the sandbars. I filmed several groups of sharks close to where swimmers frolicked. Coast Guard corpsmen assured me the sharks are always there but seldom bothered anyone, even surfers.

My story featured lots of video of sharks and showed they were within a quarter-mile of the beach, but I captured no attacks. To this day, I think more about being attacked in the shower (thanks to “Psycho”) than by a shark in the ocean.

- Tracey Smith, Fort Worth