LETTERS

Setting dangerous precedent

Defend the Constitution

Regarding “GOP offers a shoddy defense of Trump” (Outlook, Nov. 1): The column by Michael Gerson raises an interesting question: If House and Senate Republicans cannot neutralize the evidence and testimony that now point toward President Trump having engaged in potentially impeachable offenses, how will they nonetheless defend him? The author offers this possibility: To justify a vote to acquit, Senate Republicans will allow that even though the president’s behaviors raise serious questions, those same behaviors do not rise to the level of removing the man from office. Call this the “Yes, but....” defense, something we might expect from a child, caught with his hand in the cookie jar, who is trying to escape punishment.

If this is indeed the tack that is taken, then our Constitution’s limits on executive power will have been crippled with the setting of a dangerous precedent: Any future president, regardless of party, may feel free to use his/her office for the self-serving purpose of employing the instruments of government to attack political opponents and thereby shape the outcome of a looming election. As a result, we would lose one of our most cherished institutions: free and fair elections. Which is to say, our democracy. That is what will be at stake when the Senate eventually votes.

Marty Adams, Houston

On a losing track

Regarding “House nudges inquiry forward” (Front page, Nov. 11): To be accurate, the headline should read: House

Democrats nudge inquiry forward. And, the losers will lose again, when all of this goes to the Senate.

Betty Duke, Houston

Never-ending rerun

Regarding “Deficit jumps 26% to $948B” (Business, Oct. 26): It appears that we have seen this movie before. During the era of President George W. Bush, a tax cut was promoted as we were engaged in two wars while passing a drug expenditure bill. Those results spoke for themselves as we witnessed the 2008 financial debacle, only to be viewed again as Gov. Brownback of Kansas sold the same “trickle down” script to his state, causing major financial chaos for Kansas.

How is it that we bought the same story once again from the current administration, convinced by so-called financial experts, that tax cuts for corporations and high-earners would provide economic growth at 3 percent to 4 percent ? While substantially reducing tax collections, we also passed huge additional military expenditures, which now force us to borrow more from other countries to cover those shortages.

I recall Newt Gingrich telling us back in the 1990s that our biggest problems were the entitlements paid for by the taxpayers, basically Medicare and Social Security. I fear that once again that the miscalculations by the current administration will come to roost on the backs of Social Security and Medicare recipients, as well as the beneficiaries of many other safety-net programs.

Americans, regardless of political alignment, not only don’t want to see this movie again, but are tempted to burn down the theater.

Joel Gottlieb, Tomball