Of course my representative sided with Big Oil over the neediest Texans | Opinion

Needy ignored

Four House Republicans broke ranks with their leadership’s efforts to stonewall the vote to sustain Affordable Care Act subsidies to the needy in the United States. (Dec. 19, 2A, “4 Republicans helping Dems to force vote on health subsidies’) Of course, my representative, Craig Goldman of Fort Worth, was nowhere to be seen, despite having just sent a newsletter bragging on his party for its big tax cuts and subsidies to oil companies.

Goldman cowered under the wings of his party, which decided that hefty tax cuts for the wealthy in America is job No. 1 and that health care subsidies for the needy should best be ignored.

- Preston Matthiesen, Fort Worth

Demand humanity

The recent surge in immigration enforcement across Texas and the nation is not just policy. It’s a threat to civil liberties, economic stability and community trust. Masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents defy local ordinances. Families live in fear, and U.S. citizens worry they’ll be mistakenly targeted.

Industries reliant on immigrant labor are suffering. Political leaders are divided: Some cheer the disruption, while others call for compassion. Enforcement should not mean intimidation. We must demand transparency, accountability and humane policy.

Democracy survives because citizens defend it. Immigration enforcement can be firm without being cruel — but only if we insist. The front lines are no longer at the border. They’re here, in our neighborhoods.

The question is not whether we notice. It’s whether we respond.

- Brian Scott Angerer, Garland

Not just chaos

More than 70 years ago, the great German-American political theorist Hannah Arendt gave us the key to understanding the logic, goals and tactics of the current administration. She wrote: “Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty.”

Although President Donald Trump’s administration seems like unhinged chaos, there is a method in Trump’s madness.

- Paul R. Schattman, Arlington

About intent

Gerrymandering presents a significant challenge and should be considered both unconstitutional and illegal when political leaders openly express their intention to redraw maps for partisan gain.

Courts already use intent as a key standard in constitutional matters such as racial discrimination. Applying this reasoning to partisan gerrymandering would help create a clear and practical guideline. Direct acknowledgments of partisan intent offer courts a straightforward and workable standard.

The solution is for state legislatures to establish independent redistricting commissions, and for leaders in Washington to enact federal legislation to define intent-based criteria, thereby making partisan gerrymandering illegal.

- Leslie J. Smith, Grapevine