In my June 15 Monitor, the editors placed the news story about U.S. House District 34 being flipped red. The real headline should have read that the votes in the election was suppressed to a smidgeon of 7.3% of all voters! That’s a slap at our democracy in the context that our vote is the only real freedom we have left in America.
The news media were flooded with Ms. Flores’ ads to the point where no other candidate’s ads were seen. In my opinion, this amounted to suppression of the vote. People just lost interest in the election and stayed home. The Republicans are really good at this tactic and it seemed they had an unlimited amount of money to spend for a six-month job tenure! From the frequency of her ads, I estimate the cost of her election campaign amount exceeded $11 million.
Even the nuts on Fox News talk shows showcased the election as a Republican cataclysmic event! Fox is owned by a foreigner who came to the United States with a suitcase full of money buying his citizenship. He contributed millions of dollars to Donald Trump and his minions, which almost led to the demise of our way of life in America. We were protected by the Constitution and the rule of law, but almost lost this protection on Jan. 6, 2021.
Our governor is paid $153,750 per year and his term is four years, which amounts to $615,000. During 2022 we could see $200 million spent by two men to fill the governor’s job. Is this crazy or not?
This way of campaigning and its costs should be changed to a method of meeting the people and being grilled by the public as to their plans for governing. No ads in the media expect their schedule, not outsiders telling us what to think or do, and no foreigners meddling in our elections. China and Russia are both flooding our federal elections with money, and nothing is being said about this fact.
We are seeing politicians come to the Valley, meeting office holders, business owners and other insiders, but not the general public. They go home and put out talking points to the media telling the public that they were in their area to see what improvements are needed. No general public meeting with the voters of the Valley. Time after time it is just fund raising and photo ops. They by their actions do not represent us all!
Bill Williams
Palmview
Change
court
It’s time to reform the Supreme Court.
1. Term Limits: A fixed term would prevent justices from attaining too much power over the course of their tenure. Plus, justices would be more in tune with the times.
2. Reinforce ethics standards: Currently, all federal judges have to agree and take an oath to uphold, including Supreme Court justices!
3. Require justices to regularly disclose their finances online. Currently, justices don’t have to disclose such information as, say, Congress members. The public should know if the justices have a financial stake in the cases brought before them.
4. Add more seats to the court! Not court packing, but a balanced court for solutions: 15 justices.
5. Or rotating panels: They should cycle through the Supreme Court on a rotating basis, as lower judges already do.
Phil Garcia
McAllen
