Thursday Letters to the Editor

On the state surplus

Our state is reporting a $2 billion surplus, and it is looking for ways to spend it. Yet I have also read that South Carolina’s retirement system is more than $24 billion in debt. In the real world we can’t declare a surplus when we are carrying that kind of debt.

I guess that our children or grandchildren can one day take out a payday loan to balance our state’s budget. Unfortunately, the usury industry enjoys plenty of support from our state Legislature.

Stuart Stout, Columbia

On impeaching Trump

The simple fact that President Donald Trump asked the president of another nation to do a “favor” by investigating one of Trump’s political rivals is an abuse of power — and allowing this abuse to take place hurts our democracy.

The current impeachment hearings are revealing that when Trump asked for this favor, he wasn’t just making a casual remark; he was taking part in a lengthy, well-orchestrated scheme to gain a political advantage in our upcoming 2020 presidential election.

Trump certainly knew that soliciting help from a foreign government in our domestic elections could be considered a crime. Yet he did it anyway.

Trump deserves to be impeached.

Peter Swanson, Columbia

On partisanship in D.C.

I am finally worn down.

I have been watching television and listening to the Democrats scream for impeaching President Donald Trump; meanwhile, the Republicans have been screaming in return that Trump is the target of a witch hunt.

I wish I could feel as though our elected officials were interested in being good stewards of our great nation; instead I get the feeling that they are merely looking out for their own interests.

Mark Gentry, Columbia

On Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood saved my life.

I write to you as a living and thriving trans woman because of the work that Planned Parenthood does every day.

When I see the political attacks on abortion, I see them for what they are: a politically motivated campaign against Planned Parenthood and, more importantly, against its patients.

Let’s all be clear about this: SC H3020 is an abortion ban. This bill seeks to make abortion illegal in South Carolina as early as six weeks, which is before most people who can get pregnant even know that they are pregnant!

And here is where the unbelievable gets even crazier: our elected state lawmakers are holding hearings on this bill outside of session in a plain attempt to push unpopular legislation to the Senate floor with limited public interruption.

South Carolina does not want an abortion ban.

That’s why I stand with Planned Parenthood and with the majority of South Carolinians who do not support a politically motivated ban on abortion.

Dana Ward, Easley

On insulin prices

As a registered nurse and nationally registered paramedic living and working in Columbia, I’ve grown to learn how debilitating a disease like diabetes can be — especially for a population that cannot afford to pay outrageous prices for insulin.

There are only three corporations making insulin in the United States; as a result, the competition to establish low prices is minimal.

That’s why we should support the Emergency Access to Insulin Act of 2019. It is a bipartisan bill in Congress that would ensure patient access to insulin through state insulin assistance programs— while also penalizing insulin manufacturers for excessive prices and promoting insulin market competition.

This legislation may be the difference between life and death for many individuals in South Carolina, and our elected officials need to hear our voices.

Jessica Roberts, Columbia