Virtue signaling? Fentanyl? High crime? That’s what you get voting for Democrats this year

Rock the vote

Now that the Pierce County Pravda (aka The News Tribune) has told us what party to vote for, let’s look at a few more reasons why:

Vote Democrat if you believe the teachers’ unions were justified in their stranglehold in shutting down schools an extra year, regardless of the huge learning loss, especially in poor and minority students.

Vote Democrat if you still support vaccine mandates and shaming the people who lost their jobs for non-compliance. (Our bodies, our choice?)

Vote Democrat if you think demonizing and kneecapping police under the guise of social justice will improve public safety for communities that suffer the most crime.

Vote Democrat if you think it’s wise to drain our Strategic Petroleum Reserve just before the midterms, all the while declaring war on our U.S. gas and oil industry.

Vote Democrat if you think it is compassionate to ignore an open border, while fentanyl from the China/Mexico pipeline is a leading cause of death in young people 18-45.

By all means, vote Democrat if virtue signals are more important than results.

Rick Tanis, University Place

Taxed to the max

Local city governments in the area keep telling us the cause of homeless is the high price of housing and rentals. Apparently, the rich government leaders never look at their home tax bill.

This year the tax for my modest house was $7,000 for the year. If I rented the house the rent would start at almost $100 a month just to pay the taxes. Taxes are an obvious barrier to affordable housing, and our liberal government raises them almost annually.

Donald W. Wilbur, University Place

Just say no

It is my consensus that most American people are not fooled by trickery or manipulation, and yet we the voters are often stuck with the misled attitudes of others who have more money or direct influence on government leaders. We the voters — often with the most common sense — may lose our rights to live in a safe nation if attitudes toward drug use do not change.

Dangerous harm has manifested over the decades because of drug use, which has practically been portrayed as a health initiative Illicit drugs are dangerous. They should not flow into this country by land or sea. American citizens are misled by anyone who proposes injection sites or gives an inaccurate proclamation that drug use is a human right. Drugs do not protect anything. We have a right to protect ourselves against manipulation, harm and drugs, and voters should focus on that number one priority when voting.

Deana Veldhuis, Edgewood

Support for Yemen

Thank you for publishing the excellent op-ed “Biden should end U.S. support of Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen,” Oct. 26. Now in its eighth year, this war has created a humanitarian disaster, killed nearly 400,000 people and thrown 24 million into desperate need.

Congress can act right now, step away from this unauthorized military involvement and adopt the bi-partisan Yemen War Powers Resolution. Senator Patty Murray and Representatives Pramila Jayapal, Rick Larson and Suzan DelBene are already co-sponsors. I urge Senator Maria Cantwell and Representatives Derek Kilmer, Adam Smith and Marilyn Strickland to also sign on and help pass this resolution.

This is urgent. A fragile truce recently expired. The innocent civilians of Yemen can’t wait.

Noell W. Krughoff, Tacoma