More fake news about Trump

On June 8, The Daily Herald via The Washington Post had on its front page a story stating that the Director of National Intelligence, Daniel Coats, was to testify before the Senate Committee that he was pressured by President Trump to intervene in the Russian probe.

As usual these days this story came to light by unnamed sources. Turns out this was another fake news story as Coats testified that he was never pressured by the President to do or say anything.

And where does The Daily Herald print this news? Buried in a story on Page 9. Quit making the news and start reporting it for a change.

Ken Dietz

Elmhurst

Griffin has nothing to complain about

The image of Trump’s bloody head, hanging by the hair in Kathy Griffin’s grip, did not hurt her career as a comedian at all. She did it for her audience. And most certainly, she knows her audience.

Most likely, now, Harvard U. will invite her to teach. Notre Dame will ask her to speak to its graduating class. She might even serve as celebrity host for the Academy Awards. She has nothing to complain about.

George Kocan

Warrenville

CPS spin won’t solve state funding problem

A guest editorial and two letters recently decry your editorial which (correctly) noted that the Chicago Public Schools benefit disproportionately from the new school funding formula.

In fact, one needn’t spend a lot of time on Google to find out that the Illinois Board of Education confirms that has long been the fact under the existing funding formula. The correspondents all carefully note that “per pupil funding” under the new formula will increase more in 268 districts than it will for CPS.

“Per pupil” spending is important, because the correspondents don’t mention that CPS already receives, and has for many years received, more “per pupil” Illinois tax dollars than ANY other school district in the state. Not surprisingly, the bill’s sponsor, and those who will benefit from throwing more money at CPS are all spinning the facts to fit the CPS narrative that the state’s taxpayers “owe” CPS.

There is no question that education funding, like so many other things here in Illinois needs to be changed. Spinning facts to support a Chicago centric political agenda isn’t going to get that done. Then again, the reason this state’s economy has been run into the ground is sadly, not much has changed since Paddy Bauler noted, “Chicago ain’t ready for reform.”

Rory T. Weiler

Batavia

Hard to buy GOP’s phony calls for unity

The recent shooting attack of members of Congress is completely unacceptable; however, this awful event should hardly be shocking.

Anyone who has not been living under a rock has witnessed the unbridled level of hate-filled rhetoric spewed by politicians. This bad behavior has not only been tolerated by the public but has been rewarded by voters.

While heated language has been employed by people of many political persuasions, it is particularly galling for Republicans to engage in hand-wringing and phony calls for unity when their party’s leader, Mr. Trump, bullied his way into the presidency and continues to call names and shove others in order to grab the spotlight. His acolytes, such as the recently elected member of Congress from Montana and perpetrator of an assault of a reporter, emulate this boorish and violent behavior.

Pleas and protestations from folks such as Paul Ryan, a man who has lost any claim to moral rectitude after flip-flopping with regard to his ability to support Mr. Trump, ring quite hollow. As you sow, so you shall reap.

Kim Freitag

Elgin

Consider the numbers in LGBT rights debate

As a sympathizer with the LGBT community, I started looking at some U.S. Census Bureau numbers. The current population of the United States is roughly 318.9 million people, of whom, 3.8 percent identify as LGBT. That means more than 12.1 million people are LGBT.

To give Chicagoans an analogy — if you took the populations of greater Chicago, greater Milwaukee, greater Rockford, greater Springfield and greater Peoria — it would be roughly the same as the number of people in America that are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered.

Imagine telling this population that because of being born or residing in Chicago, Milwaukee, Rockford, Springfield or Peoria that their relationships were null and void, they must seek psychological counseling, they couldn’t have children and their culture was detrimental. Imagine the federal government and organized religion telling their associated members that people from these areas were such a problem that Chicago, Milwaukee, Rockford, Springfield and Peoria residents should be hidden from view, lied about their history, persecuted and, after death, sent into an unfathomable agony.

If, as an American and resident of Chicagoland, I felt a bias against me while visiting adjacent cities, I would probably defend my home and speak proudly of greater Chicago/Milwaukee/Lake County/Rockford/Springfield and Peoria people. It is scary and disappointing that this situation still exists in 2017 for many members of LGBT community in the United States as well as countries around the world.

Willis Lambertson

Barrington

Ominous signs for taxpayers

I can’t wait to see my second installment real estate tax bill after reading an article in the June 14 Daily Herald warning of huge increases. Yes, property values are going up, but it seems that the government’s apparent desire to bleed its citizens dry is increasing even faster.

I don’t recall my taxes going down commensurately when property values plummeted in the region during the Great Recession. Apparently, it doesn’t work both ways when it comes to taxes.

And, if renters think they’re immune, they might want to think again. After all, they’re the ones paying the property owner’s taxes and other costs of ownership, so guess what’s going to happen to rental rates.

To add insult to injury, the tax reform “blueprint” presently under consideration in the U.S. Congress proposes to eliminate the deductibility of real estate taxes as an itemized expense on federal tax returns. That’s going to hit homeowners in Illinois hard, considering we have some of the highest property taxes in the nation.

It’s also going to hit seniors who have worked all their lives to pay off their mortgages, only to find that their one remaining homeownership deduction — property taxes — has been taken away.

Bob Dohn

Schaumburg

Protect our water

Donald Trump wants to invest in infrastructure by drawing money from the private sector and cutting regulatory red tape. This would be a disaster. We don’t need another Flint with unsafe drinking water. I urge my representatives in Washington to reject this hoax and vote for public-oriented solutions — like the WATER Act.

Jean Kirkwood

Mount Prospect