Letters to the Editor

Losing the House was indeed a big deal for conservatives

Following the semi-disaster for conservatives in 2018, many Republicans with whom I spoke said it wasn’t such a big deal because the GOP retained controlled of the Senate. That was whistling pass the graveyard.

It was a big deal. Half a loaf with the left leaves you starving.

Immediately, Sen. Chuck Schumer served notice on President Donald Trump that “you will never get your wall, Mr. President.”

It’s America’s wall for America’s security, but the left has a personal vendetta against a president they despise, someone to be neutralized, discredited and brought down at any cost, the country be damned.

Expect two years of accusations, lawsuits, investigations and impeachment proceedings with little regard for the facts. Those now heading powerful committees in Congress are either Trump haters, publicity-grabbing incompetents, or both.

Eliot Engel, new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wants to dissolve the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade and divert the resources to a new committee investigating the president. Myriad progressive bills the president won’t sign will pass the House to satisfy their base, blame him for Washington gridlock and nullify the election. Those who no longer respect their opponent’s honest election results show their moral turpitude and fascist goals.

The Senate can, of course, act independently of the House in some areas, such as appointing judges. But with the House holding the purse strings, Trump’s ability to go forward will be greatly diminished by political shenanigans.

Yes, America, it was a big deal.

Don Maresca


Trump is not attacking the courts

A recent contributor concludes that President Donald Trump’s “attacks” on federal courts reveal Constitutional “ignorance.” The writer is uninformed.

Disagreeing with judicial decisions is not ignorance; note that many are reversed. Nor is it unique. Recall President Barack Obama’s graceless State of the Union attack on the justices, sitting before him with the entire Congress and a national television audience, because he differed with the Citizens United decision. Indeed, Obama, purportedly a Constitutional scholar, incorrectly claimed the decision permits foreign governments to finance political-campaign speech. Recall also, FDR’s threat to pack the Supreme Court over his anger with its decisions.

The separation of powers ensures disagreement among coequal branches, which is forcefully illustrated by Democratic leadership’s constant attacks on presidential decisions?

Trump’s reference to “my” DOJ angers the writer. Obama did the same. The fact is, both presidents are correct. The Department of Justice is an executive branch cabinet office answerable to the president. The ignorance is not Trump’s.

The writer’s description of The Federalist Society is also wrong. It is neither “extremely partisan” nor a “think tank.” It is a nonpartisan lawyer society with a bias for literal statutory and constitutional interpretation, i.e. rule of law. One concerned with Constitutional order should know and accept the president’s right, even obligation, to appoint jurists who reflect his and his supporters’ judicial philosophy rather than that of his opposition. As Obama explained, elections do have consequences.

The writer is correct on one point. These are dangerous times when citizens remain uninformed.

Frank Dunne Sr.

Hilton Head Island

Dominion Energy should stop the SC ads

We all have been seeing Dominion Energy’s full-page newspaper ads or TV spots about “being excited to be your partner,” yada, yada, yada, since purchasing SCANA/SCE&G.

How about taking all that advertising money and using it to reduce our electric rates instead of advertising to make yourselves feel good?

We, as electric utility consumers, have absolutely no choice on who we can use to get our electricity, so save the self-congratulations in your ads and just reduce our rates.

It has always amazed me why a monopoly has to advertise anyway. What a waste of our money.

Mike Lewis

Harbor Island

How to prove SC gas tax paid?

You say to keep your gas receipts to save money on your tax return. Have you looked at a gas receipt lately? On all of our receipts that we have we don’t see any tax shown on any of them. How can you use this if it is not posted on the receipt?

Ron Zmuda

Hilton Head Island

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