Letters to the Editor

  UNFULFILLED PROMISESThis is a response to Mark Erickson’s Dec. 15 letter (“Why Trump won”) and to give a different perspective. Trump won the Electoral College due to a growing dissatisfaction with corrupt politics that don’t work for everyone. However, he was a corporatist posing to be a populist. Now that he has won, he […]

ACA REPEAL WILL HURT HOSPITALS With a month to go before President-elect Trump takes office, we’ve received a warning shot across the bow in Springfield. It came in the form of a press release from Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, and Chip Kahn, president and CEO of the Federation of […]

  A BROKEN WORLDI would like to offer another point of view regarding James Krohe Jr.’s “Country blues” (Dec. 1). I am from Springfield, but I have lived in and visited both rural and metropolitan areas in and out of Illinois. “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” said Abraham Lincoln, quoting the Bible. Mr. […]

COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE Thank you for putting out specific steps, especially local actions, that are key in addressing the rapidly shifting climate on this planet. (“Perishing planet,” Nov. 24, illinoistimes.com)I would suggest that every week Illinois Times make a place for a watchdog column that informs local citizens as to how they can support action on […]

  CONVERSATION ON RACEDusty Rhodes’ interview with Kelly Wickham Hurst (“Speaking out of school,” Nov. 17) was very enlightening reading, and it shows why a conversation on race is needed in this country. Most people who regard themselves as white genuinely feel they are not racist because they associate that term with genuinely mean-spirited people. […]

I THOUGHT I KNEW YOU I’m sorry. I thought I knew you. I thought that another senior would understand how many of your peers are at dire risk when our conservative Congress cuts Social Security. I thought a veteran would care about the lives of our troops thrown into needless wars by warmongers who never […]

  PRESIDENT TRUMPWhoever said life was smooth? Jefferson said we need a revolution every 12 years to clean out the rot, adjust and start again. Well, Trump has given us that opportunity. But how could opportunity come with a Janus face – abominable moral character lacking even traces of empathy and compassion on one face, […]

STANDING ROCK SOLIDARITY I was glad to see the opinion piece in the last edition of Illinois Times (“A tale of two pipes,” Jim Hightower, Oct. 27) about the historic event going on at Standing Rock Reservation between the indigenous people and Energy Transfer Partners, the owner of Dakota Access Pipeline. We have seen so […]

MARIJUANA NOT HARMLESS Parents and teens need to know that marijuana use is not harmless and it has serious risks, particularly for the developing brain, which is not fully developed until age 25 (“Trading places,” by Patrick Yeagle, Oct. 20). People have died after consuming high-potent THC marijuana. As an example, two college-age men committed […]

REQUIRED READING God bless Jim Hightower. His article “What 47 cents buys these days,” (Sept. 22, Illinois Times) is right on. It should be required reading for all past and current Post Office employees. Tom SchuhSpringfield DECIDE FOR YOURSELFIf you have been following the back and forth between the Republican and Democratic candidates for president […]

  THE ACTION OPTIONWhen she was unhappy with the outcome of an election my mother would harrumph “we get the politicians we deserve.” I think the truth Mom pointed to was this: our politicians are a symptom, not the disease that afflicts all of us. It is time for us to seek a cure together, […]

  ILLINOIS CLEAN JOBS BILLThe Illinois General Assembly can make our state a leader in clean energy. As a progressive leader in Springfield, I know that policy that supports energy-efficiency programs encourages economic development and keeps homes in our neighborhood affordable. That means adding new jobs to our communities and putting savings back into consumers’ […]