Trumpcare + Tom McClintock + Cassini + American River Parkway + Litter + Ella dining room | The Sacramento Bee

Health care fight

Re “Obamacare repeal effort ignites protests of California House Republicans” (sacbee.com, Sept. 21): Our granddaughter was born unable to filter and expel toxins through her urinary system. She's had many surgeries, is monitored closely, and there’s probably a kidney transplant and possibly a heart transplant in her future. Her parents were self-employed, hard-working creative types trying to carve a niche on Etsy. Their lifeline has been Medicaid. There’s no one I know who could have possibly been able to pay those medical costs out of pocket. If they had been insured, as we are, even in retirement, having been public servants during our working years, they'd have probably reached coverage caps long ago. She's 7 years old, and would die without treatment. How many others will too if Trumpcare passes ?

One-way street

SIGN UP

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, lectures his constituents about civility, yet does not demonstrate the same. Protesters left the Sept. 20 Angels Camp town hall because he doesn’t listen to the questions asked, or answer the questions. Instead, regular attendees of his town halls has heard the same patronizing rhetoric, no matter the topic or concern expressed by his constituents. Those who stood in silent protest were subjected to shouts of, “Shoot them,” from the audience. McClintock scolded the silent protesters but had nary a word for those advocating violence against them. Apparently, McClintock sees civility and respect as a one way street.

Ignorance

Re “School vouchers” (Letters, Sept. 22): Letter writer Terence Kilpatrick wants parents to be able to use tax vouchers to enroll children in private schools to avoid their learning about transgender people. He claims the right of parents to educate their children as they see fit, but that is not what they are asking. They want the right to force ignorance upon children. They fail to understand that learning about something and choosing to embrace it are two different things. They want tax dollars to pay for robbing their children of information. We cannot dictate how parents school their children, but we must never use public tax money to support compulsory ignorance.

No freebies

Re “Trump didn’t show ‘compassion’ by ending DACA. He was a coward” (Editorials, Sept. 5) DACA is another way of saying freebie. We don’t spend this kind of money on our own people born and raised here. This money comes from hard-working Americans like myself. I can think of more pressing ways to spend it. The government is not a piggy bank for foreigners. I am sure that there are people who could use this money for education. We could even fix social security.

Parkway mess

I recently participated in the American River Clean-up, and started in my kayak at the Watt Avenue bridge. About halfway to Howe Avenue, I found my first homeless campsite on a small island. The amount of trash at this one site was staggering. It looked like a small landfill. I collected 18 bags of refuse and had to leave behind many items that were simply too big. What surprised me was how much fecal waste I found. Unless we do something fast, the homeless population is going to destroy this beautiful American River Parkway.

Freeway litter

The Highway 99 corridor from north of Elk Grove to Broadway is littered with trash, and has been this way for some time. Other cities do not seem to have this issue to the extent we do. It is embarrassing when out-of-town guests visit and comment on the trash along the freeway. Do we still have litter laws? Whose responsibility is it to clean this up? Sacramento is a beautiful city but the mess along 99 is a shame.

Ban leaf blowers

Re “Noisy, but that's not all: Leaf blowers flagged as polluters, possible health threat” (sacbee.com, Sept. 19): This article from the nonprofit news organization FairWarning describes environmental threats posed by gas-powered landscaping equipment. Our South Land Park home gets a near-daily dose of noise and pollution from crews working on nearby homes. When they are at adjacent properties, we close windows and stay indoors to avoid the racket and pollution. A complaint to my council member met with dead silence. With the documentation in this article, could we hope that our elected officials might make what should be the easiest of policy decisions to ban these gas-powered pollution machines?

Cassini pride

Re “Goodbye Cassini: Saturn spacecraft gets funny opera send-off” (sacbee.com, Sept. 13): Sacramento and Aerojet should be proud of the role we played in the successful Cassini mission to Saturn. Aerojet developed and produced the liquid rocket engines which helped propel the Titan IV rocket carrying Cassini on its way to Saturn. I was privileged to lead the Aerojet Launch Support Team that prepared the engines for launch and supported day of launch activities. All of us at Aerojet were and are proud of the role we played in making this remarkable mission a success. Congratulations, Aerojet Titan Team.

Class distinctions

Re “At 10 years old, Ella is still Sacramento’s ‘big-city’ restaurant” (sacbee.com, Sept. 15): The Sacramento does not promote class distinction. That is why I am troubled by the first paragraph of Carla Meyer's review of Ella Dining Room, in which she mentions the “better class of people” to be found there. Her explanation in the next sentence falls far short of acknowledging that discussions of class distinctions are offensive and a precursor to bigotry. Being a Sacramento lobbyist, apparently I am part of that “better class of people” with whom she and her friends choose to associate. I certainly do not consider myself to be of any better class than people who pass by the restaurant daily and do not walk through the front door. In the divisive climate in which we unfortunately find ourselves today, I would ask that The Bee not tolerate such inflammatory language.

A $140 lunch

I was disappointed in the usually insightful Carla Meyer’s review of Ella. Her partly tongue-in-cheek comment about telling friends they would find a “better class of people” at the bar struck me as emblematic of the Trump era, when money counts as “class.” Because people who go to Ella’s can afford exorbitant prices, does that make them a “better class of people?” And where does that money to pay for these meals with lobbyists come from anyway? While I have only had lunch there once, both my partner and I had two pasta dishes, two salads and two glasses of white wine. All were well done but the bill with tax and tip came to $140.00. That’s why I’ve only been there once. Ultimately, there are many restaurants in town where the food is great, the ambiance enjoyable and the price reasonable. I’ll dine out without the thrill of possibly spotting a legislator, lobbyist or the glimpse of an occasional passing light rail train.