Housing prices are high; the demand is greater than the supply. Encouraging new housing starts can help reduce the gap. That part I get. But giving out money to help more potential homebuyers enter the market — and increase the demand — simply doesn’t make sense.
And price controls are always a ticking time bomb, inevitably leading to a future inflationary explosion.
I like Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris; I intend to vote for her in November. But I hope she will give more serious thought to her proposed economic strategies.
— David Haeckel, Chicago
Lack of visit to the border
Those who criticize Vice President Kamala Harris for failing to travel to the southern border to address the illegal immigration crisis miss the point. Instead, she remained in Washington near the location of the actual root cause, the White House!
— James M. Berry, La Grange
Decision shouldn’t be hard
How can it be so hard to vote for the candidates who want to work for the people of the United States? Those candidates would be Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz.
Donald Trump and JD Vance want to take our rights away. Project 2025 would take our rights away. They want to get rid of Obamacare, take away women’s rights and not allow same-sex marriage. They want to raise the taxes of the middle class and lower taxes for rich corporations.
So tell me, how can this be so hard?
— Charlotte Braun, Glenview
Reason for Project 2025
Most liberals and a few moderate conservatives shudder and cringe when they hear “Project 2025.” Project 2025 is simply the counteroffensive to Barack Obama’s “fundamentally change America” agenda; Joe Biden and Kamala Harris continue to carry Obama’s torch.
— Sam Karambelas, Lincolnshire
Democrats’ mixed message
In May, Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law a bill stipulating that Illinois candidates must run in the primary in order for those candidates to appear on the general election ballot. Pritzker defended the constitutionality of the law, stating it prevented “backroom deals” where a small group of people in a smoke-filled room decides who runs in the general election.
Apparently, our governor’s viewpoint on elections does not apply in presidential elections. Or maybe, Kamala Harris’ Democratic Party “nomination” was done in a smoke-free room.
— Joe Majewski, Willowbrook
Letter embraces old tropes
It’s no surprise that a letter to the editor response (“Not going back to when?” Aug. 25) of a Donald Trump supporter, Bill Adamson of Naperville, to the Democratic National Convention slogan, “We are not going back,” is filled with regurgitations from the right about gas prices, inflation, illegal immigration and war. Has Adamson checked gas prices in our neighboring countries of Mexico and Canada, not to mention European countries? The old trope of the president setting gas prices is laughable at this point.
Adamson also trots out inflation but without the overwhelming evidence of record corporate profits driving grocery prices and everything else. And, of course, he cites the border while conveniently leaving out the bipartisan bill squashed by his not-so-fearless leader (so Trump could use it in his campaign). Even the heavily conservative Border Patrol supported that bill.
Lastly, no one wants the current wars except the megalomaniacs who started them.
It’s insane how people supporting a man who tried to overthrow a democratic election (police officers were attacked) are so easily swayed by propaganda. But people want to believe what they want to believe. Fear and hysteria drive the right.
— Kirsten Vick, Glenview
Returning to sensible time
Letter writer Bill Adamson wants to know what the Democrats mean by the theme, “We are not going back.” He has a good point. If I had been in charge, I might have suggested the theme, “We are going back. We’re going back as fast as we possibly can.”
We’re going back to a time when no voter of either party would even consider voting for a man, regardless of his policies or the price of eggs, who was convicted of 34 felonies and held liable by a unanimous jury for sexually abusing and defaming one woman and, over the course of his 78 years, has been credibly accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen other women.
— Bob Ray, River Forest
It’s about having rights
Bill Adamson from Naperville asks for some clarification on the theme and slogan “We’re not going back.” Happy to help him out. It’s about reproductive rights and doctor-patient privacy. It’s about a woman being able to choose to have an abortion or use contraception.
Before 1965, states could outlaw contraception. Before 1973, states could outlaw abortion. We’re not going back to that.
— Mark Rice, Naperville
Fallacies about Trump
I always take exception to the idea, as suggested by Bill Adamson, that Donald Trump “gave” prosperity and a peaceful world to us.
Simple-sounding solutions can be irresistible. To some extent, I understand Trump’s basic appeal, which is rooted in ceaseless claims that, if we will just give him the power, he will take care of everything and it will be both painless and cost-free. “Perfect,” he might say.
Who wouldn’t like that? Of course, the devil is in the details.
Enthusiasts of simple solutions think, “Let’s bring Trump back. Things were better then.” Putting aside the fact that such people seem to have incomplete memories of when Trump was president, they appear to assume causality for what may have been only coincidence. Things may have been better while Trump was president, but were they better because Trump was president?
After all, Trump inherited a pretty good economy from President Barack Obama, far better than what President Joe Biden inherited from Trump, and Trump did not dramatically improve it, although he does dramatically talk about it. If one looks at a historical line graph of unemployment or gross domestic product growth with the time scale covered, it is difficult to tell from the graph when Trump became president.
It is easy and safe for Trump to claim that none of the afflictions that Adamson lists would have happened if he had been president because, since he was not president at the time, Adamson’s statement is not disprovable. However, those of us who pay attention and can apply common sense can see that pandemic-related supply chain problems, worker shortages, even avian flu (rising egg prices), and more would have happened and caused inflation regardless of who was in the White House, Trump’s representations of omnipotence notwithstanding.
The former president displayed little brilliance in or even comprehension of foreign affairs, so the idea that there would be no wars if he was president is easily dismissible. He torpedoed major bipartisan immigration legislation because he preferred having an issue to run on over solving a problem.
As for gasoline prices, perhaps the next time Trump is soliciting the oil industry for a 10-figure campaign contribution, as he was reported to have done in April, he could ask the leaders of Exxon Mobil Corp. to tell us all about gasoline prices peaking during one of their most profitable years.
— Curt Fredrikson, Mokena, Illinois
Trump’s use of Arlington
My uncle is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. I am appalled by the behavior of Donald Trump’s aides at Arlington and disgusted by Trump’s pathetic attempt to wiggle out of any responsibility. He is so thoroughly unfit to be president.
— Richard Schlosberg, Highland Park
Trump got what he wanted
Regarding his Arlington National Cemetery appearance, regardless of the outcome, Donald Trump will have gotten what he craves: publicity.
— M. Sackheim, Evanston
Are these examples of ‘losers’?
The letter by Catherine O’Malley (“It’s clear who the ‘loser’ is,” Aug. 26) really hit me.
I commend both vice presidential candidates on their military service, as I do all veterans and those currently serving. It is too bad that Donald Trump was not physically fit enough to be in the service. It would have done him good.
Trump called those who served “losers,” if I understand it correctly.
Is he calling former Presidents Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and even George Washington losers? U.S. Sen. John McCain was a true hero — keeping up the morale of other captives and refusing to be released while other soldiers were held captive.
Is Trump calling the members of the 442nd Infantry — the most decorated unit of World War II, consisting of mainly Japanese Americans — losers?
My cousin Pat Coffey, who died from Agent Orange, was a hero, not a loser.
Does Trump not realize that because of these “losers,” he or Kamala Harris has a chance to become president? He was able to become a billionaire because our military has kept us free.
Does it make sense to call losers the very people who can defend our country?
Thank you to O’Malley for her letter.
— Don Mueggenborg, Lemont
Going after candidate’s son
OK, radio show host Dan Proft and others are sorry for denigrating a young man, 17, for showing love for his dad with tears in his eyes because they didn’t know he had developmental problems. What if Gus Walz had no disability? Would it be OK to go after him in that case?
The same people are also searching for or making up lies about competitor politicians. They then cast those politicians as unsuitable for public office. How about someone who has lied thousands of times? Is he unsuitable for office?
We live in a strange world today. Please note I didn’t say “weird.”
I still hope we can return to a more honorable world.
— Bill Burns, South Elgin
Jacobson unfairly reviled
I watched vice presidential nominee Tim Walz speak at the Democratic National Convention. I thought his son Gus’ reaction during his father’s speech was way over the top, so much so that I wondered about what kind of parenting he had had. I knew nothing of this young man until being informed by the media the next day.
Amy Jacobson apparently didn’t know anything about this young man either, saying some unkind things about him with radio show co-host Dan Proft before knowing about his learning disorder. Upon knowing, she apologized for her remarks.
I do not know Jacobson. However, it bothers me that we always seem to have an off-with-their-head response to these issues. Maybe someday we can look at whether her comments and those in similar circumstances had any malicious intent and judge accordingly.
But apparently, today is not that day.
— Rick Wagner, Burr Ridge
Jacobson unfit as a coach
The Tribune Editorial Board clearly misses the point by calling the resignation of Amy Jacobson probably an overreaction (“Sarah Palin, Amy Jacobson and making fun of politicians’ kids,” Aug. 30). Jacobson resigned from her position as a Chicago high school volleyball coach following outcry from parents over her highly offensive and derogatory remarks about Gus Walz on WIND-AM 560.
High school coaches generally are highly respected by kids and parents alike. Their decisions can be very powerful in influencing kids’ attitudes about themselves and others. How many parents would want their kids coached by a person so insensitive? What kind of values would she be teaching them? How fairly would their children be treated in trying out for the team or in the allocation of game play?
Kudos to Amundsen parents for standing up for diversity and the values taught their children.
— Paula Leifer, Northbrook
Hatred is no American value
In the fairy tales and epic stories that humanity tells, one of the constants among them is that the bad guys are mean. They destroy the land in “The Lord of the Rings” and laugh at others’ misfortune in the “Harry Potter” series. Put on any movie, and the bad guys are the ones who do not respect their fellow humans or the land. They are only out for themselves.
Many folks following a certain billionaire politician claim to be on the right side of history, upholding America’s values — but hatred and meanness are not American values to me. MAGA folks cheer on the destruction of the ecosystem and support energy companies raping the earth. They don’t care that their leader has bragged about abusing women or that he made fun of a disabled reporter. They don’t care that he has called people serving their country in the armed services “losers.” They seem to enjoy it when he’s mean.
Why is that? Especially when many of them claim to follow the Jewish carpenter who advised his followers to turn the other cheek and love their enemies. Jesus was never mean. In obvious fact, Donald Trump is mean a lot. Though he hawks Bibles, he once said he never asks forgiveness from God. What kind of human never needs forgiveness?
This election is a clear choice between mean-spirited folks who make fun of young men who love their dad — and people who believe that every person is our neighbor. Every single person, no matter their color or creed or the people they love. It was shocking in his time when Jesus told his followers that the Samaritan in the parable was their neighbor. At that time, Samaritans were anathema to Jewish people — kind of like drag queens and trans people are now to MAGA folk. Jesus preached love — love everyone all the time. He even said that whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.
Mean-spirited anger is tearing our country apart. We can all say no to that and do our own part to create a more loving country for all of us. Good people don’t support mean leaders, no matter how far-fetched the story line.
— The Rev. Pam Rumancik, Bull Valley, Illinois
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