WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 24, 2019 13
AN INCOMPLETE
ANSWER
The governor, with the expected
support of both chambers of the state
Legislature, is expected to add New
York to the growing roster of states
that permit “early voting.” They will
argue that it will promote democracy.
This makes no sense to me.
How can someone vote intelligently
when they don’t experience the whole
campaign until Election Day? At best,
people will be voting with incomplete
information which is hardly appropriate
for good decision-making.
Moreover, the governor wants to make
Election Day a state holiday to make it
more convenient to vote. What is the point
of this when he is promoting early voting?
Election Day becomes a superfl uous event
except for those who did not vote early. As
has been said, “It ain’t over until it’s over.”
The fi nal score, whether it is baseball or
elections, is not determined until the very
end of the event. Early voting, in my opinion,
is regressive and not progressive.
Joseph A. Giacalone, Flushing
BAG BAN IS A
BAD IDEA
Governor Andrew Cuomo wants a plastic
bag ban throughout New York. His belief is
that this ban would help reduce greenhouse
emissions. As reported, alternatives leave
much to be desired.
Paper bags use more resources and
break before the shopper gets home. Added
to that, cloth bags need to be washed
oft en for sanitary reasons.
I’m all for saving the planet but the
cost to the poor consumer could turn out
to be expensive and impractical. This
expense is a burden to the merchant and
the consumers.
I work for a plumbing supply and we
give out materials to our customers in
plastic bags. Those I have spoken to tell
me to ban these bags is a bad idea. Well, I
totally agree.
A better solution is needed that does not
tax the average hard-working consumer.
I think we have the technology to come
up with something that is good for the
consumer and the planet.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.,
Glen Oaks Village
LESS LANES, MORE
TRAFFIC
When it comes to the pros and cons
of bike lanes, comedian Whoopi Goldberg
took Mayor Bill de Blasio to the
woodshed on a recent episode of “The
View.”
Big Apple traffic congestion is a
citywide issue that has grown over
time, impacting local business and
commuters who travel by bus or car.
There is a corresponding relation between
reduction in traffi c speed and
the relationship to the corresponding
loss in street capacity.
A past report released by city
Department of Transportation Commissioner
Polly Trottenberg chose
to ignore this. Over the past 18 years,
under mayors Bloomberg and de Blasio,
hundreds of miles of traffi c lanes
have been eliminated. This was due to
the dramatic increase in the introduction
of bike lanes, street calming and
pedestrian plaza projects.
Forcing buses to share less street
space with cars, taxis, Uber, Lyft,
UPS, FedEx, other delivery and commercial
traffi c along with municipal
vehicles has contributed to a decline
in vehicle speed for everyone in all
fi ve boroughs. The result is increased
conflicts with pedestrians. This is
like cholesterol buildup, resulting in
hardening of the arteries.
All of this contributes to increased
gridlock, pollution and adverse impact
to local businesses, who count on timely
pick-up and deliveries along with adequate
parking for customers. Trying
to travel around town by automobile
or bus is next to impossible.
Mayor de Blasio promised to increase
bus speed by 25 percent in his
recent State of the City speech. Don’t
count on this happening.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
TRUMP’S RUSSIA
‘BUFFERS’
Rudy Giuliani has made it clear that
President Trump did not collude with
Russians, although his campaign staff
may have done so. In other words, he
had a lot of buff ers.
Robert Berger, Bellerose
BLAMING
DEMOCRATS
It is neither surprising nor unexpected
that a government shutdown
has occurred when a continuing solution
on the budget is required. The
leaders of the Democratic Party are not
the loyal opposition but an instrument
of disruption.
Although the president and Senate
leaders have taken actions to break the
deadlock, Senator Charles Schumer
has not moved his position. He uses
his position of Minority Leader to reinforce
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s
view that a barrier at the southern
border to aid in the protection against
people and drugs illegally entering
this country is immoral.
It is virtually impossible to respond
to that position which has been enunciated
and advocated by the same person
who said only a few years ago that representatives
should not worry about
the contents of a bill before voting on
it. They can read it aft er they pass it.
The present problem of the government
shutdown could be one easily
resolved if responsible Democratic
senators would take quick and relatively
simple action. They should immediately
elect a new minority leader
from among those in their party who
are reasonable, not self-serving nor
interested in vendettas against the
president.
Joseph B. Margolin, Valley Stream
Editor’s note: This letter requires
clarifi cation as to the facts of the federal
government shutdown.
Since taking control on Jan. 3, House
Democrats have voted nine times on
legislation to reopen government. None
of the bills have been taken up for a vote
in the Senate. Many of these bills were
identical to ones that the Republican-led
Senate overwhelmingly passed in December
2018, but were denied by President
Trump — who, on Dec. 11, 2018, said
before Pelosi, Schumer and members of
the press, “If we don’t get what we want,
one way or the other through you or the
military or anybody else, yes I will shut
down the government. … I am proud to
shut down the government for border
security.”
The “compromise” that Trump proposed
on Jan. 19, in which he pledged
to support the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for
three years in exchange for $5.6 billion
in border wall funding, was rejected by
Pelosi, Schumer and numerous other
Congressional Democrats who have
stated they would not fund a border
wall, although they would be open to
negotiating more funding for overall
border security.
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com (Subject: Letter to the Editor) or
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those of this newspaper or its staff .
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