In all the discussion about the relative fitness for office of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, due to their age and clearly diminished mental sharpness, I would like to take issue with one notion that is being thrown around with very little challenge: the idea that the presidency is “the hardest job in the world.” This is utter nonsense and an insult to the millions of people who work on construction sites and in restaurants, hospitals, schools, police and fire departments, and in countless other vocations. Neither candidate would last an hour as a carpenter, a cop or a first grade teacher.
The decisions that a president needs to make are extremely important, but the president has a lot of help in making those decisions. Indeed, maybe the hardest job a president has is selecting those who will be his or her top advisers and Cabinet members — these people must provide candid and often expert advice in service of the American people alone and not try to curry favor by saying what they think the boss wants to hear or undercut the president by playing out the private decision-making process in the press.
Does the president need to be able to walk 50 yards over uneven terrain without stumbling to reach a limousine or helicopter? Hardly. That bar would disqualify some of our most revered former presidents. Does he or she need to remember names of world leaders in the spur of the moment? Do they need to recall what they had for breakfast six hours ago? Not at all.
What is absolutely necessary is for the president to have a clear enough mind to process all of the incoming information relevant to the important decisions of the office. This paramount requirement recalls again the people who are in the president’s inner circle because the 25th Amendment spells out a specific process by which a president who is no longer capable of making these decisions shall be relieved of duty, temporarily or permanently.
Voters should consider, among other policy-related issues that affect the presidency, not which candidate speaks more clearly or walks more steadily but which candidate is more likely to surround himself with advisers who have the welfare of the country at the top of their minds and who might surround himself with self-serving sycophants who will look at presidential incapacity as an exploitable opportunity.
— Guy Rosenthal, Wheaton
Need for new, younger leaders
As a retired baby boomer, I am disgusted and fed up with my generation’s politicians. While baby boomers benefited from decades of goodwill and prosperity that followed two world wars, our government institutions have fallen into a never-ending cycle of partisan politics. It seems a politician’s only goal is to get reelected, and so we get gerrymandering as a new art form.
I’m tired of having to choose from candidates based on who I believe will do the least damage to us while in office. I have faithfully voted in every election since being eligible but lately find myself asking, “What’s the point?” I do not like this feeling.
A Feb. 29 op-ed on Gen Z voters (“What will Gen Z voters say at polls?”), especially the fact that “nearly 25% of Gen Z voters went to the polls in 2022,” makes me wonder when these younger generations are going to step in en masse and take over.
They certainly cannot do any worse than the current crop of politicians.
— Ken Stead, Aurora
Replacement of city’s gas pipes
In the Feb. 25 op-ed “Chicago, we’re digging up the wrong pipes,” Aldermen Andre Vasquez and William Hall completely miss the mark. As the presidents of Peoples Gas and Gas Workers Union Local 18007, we would like to set the record straight.
Chicago’s energy delivery system is among the oldest in America. Its pipes date to the 1800s — before Abraham Lincoln was president.
The pipes that heat Chicago homes and businesses are rapidly corroding, and an independent engineering study found they should be replaced as quickly as possible. Local 18007 members work on the system every day and see the worsening pipe conditions firsthand. The good news is our work replacing them has been successful. This is a big part of why Chicago’s heating system performed so well during the stretch of below-zero temperatures in January.
Every part of our work is planned, executed and needed for safety. We prioritize pipes in the worst condition and neighborhoods most at risk for problems. We also work closely with all stakeholders, and we coordinate with city departments so taxpayers save money and streets need to be dug up only once.
The modernization work is on schedule and on budget. Our efforts have made Chicago’s energy delivery system safer and more reliable and have drastically reduced leaks. The work also positions Chicago for a clean energy future in which natural gas and hydrogen may someday heat our homes and fuel the economy.
To assert that the modernization program is about anything other than the safety of our customers is completely wrong. It also is imprudent to suggest that end-of-life energy lines should not be replaced because water lines need replacement as well.
We look forward to actively participating in future proceedings with Chicagoans and the Illinois Commerce Commission and demonstrating how our energy delivery system is critical to safety, reliable heat and Chicago’s clean energy future.
— Torrence L. Hinton, president, Peoples Gas, and Jason Carter, president, Gas Workers Union Local 18007
Immigrants benefit communities
It’s time to cut through the noise about immigration: Our economy and our communities are stronger because of it. Some leaders would have us think it’s a zero-sum game when our country takes in immigrants, but that’s not true at all.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the U.S. economy will grow by an extra $7 trillion over the next 10 years thanks to immigrants. But we don’t have to wait for the future to see how immigrants are strengthening the economy. In 2021, immigrants paid $524.7 billion in taxes, according to the American Immigration Council. That’s money that helps fuel our nation’s K-12 schools, Medicaid and Social Security. Immigrants help support our communities as consumers and taxpayers.
Even Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, appointed by Donald Trump, has recognized the massive contributions immigrants make, saying in a recent national interview, “A big part of the story of the labor market coming back into better balance is immigration returning to levels that were more typical of the pre-pandemic era.”
So let’s give credit where credit is due, stop the anti-immigrant rhetoric and end the zero-sum mindset.
Immigration truly is essential for our economic growth and our communities’ prosperity.
— Linda Johnson, Chicago
Time to give Pete Rose a shot
The gaming industry is reaping billions of dollars through sports betting, and that includes the national pastime — baseball.
Since that’s case, then perhaps it’s time for that sport to allow Pete Rose entry into the Hall of Fame. If it’s OK for the sport to cover its eyes as fans bet on baseball, then why can’t MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred make Rose eligible for entry into the hall?
— Dean Dranias, Plainfield
