Gov. McMaster admires South Carolina’s teachers — but where’s the love for state employees?

On guns

I have friends who have handguns and carry permits. When I ask them why they carry guns, they tell me that it’s “for protection.” When I ask them who they are trying to protect themselves against, they tell me “other people with guns.”

Am I missing something here? It’s kind of like sitting on an iceberg and complaining about how cold you are.

Michael Dennis McDermott, Lexington

On rural care

I am glad to see that Congress is working to address surprise medical billing, but it should not push through proposals that could make things harder for patients — particularly for those who live in rural areas.

That is precisely what current legislation would do: it would enable the government to set arbitrarily low rates for physicians. In turn these lower-than-normal rates would shift monumental losses onto local hospitals and emergency rooms. This could undermine access to care and drive up costs for patients in rural communities across South Carolina.

Congress should instead focus on market-based solutions like the Independent Dispute Resolution, a process that allows insurers and providers to negotiate out-of-network payments in good faith. It would enable each side to have a voice in settling payment disputes, and it would use an independent mediator to set fair prices for rural health care.

Ian Taylor, Columbia

On impeachment

Many supporters of President Donald Trump have argued that Trump can’t be impeached because he did not violate a specific criminal statute.

There is one little problem with that argument: the Government Accountability Office has concluded that the Trump administration did break the law by attempting to block military aid to Ukraine until it launched investigations into one of Trump’s political opponents.

Any Republican Party senator who votes to acquit Trump will set a precedent that will allow presidents to violate the law with impunity.

Druie Cavender, Prosperity

On state employees

Gov. Henry McMaster recently said that the best way to deliver the message that South Carolina values the excellence of its 50,000 K-12 public school teachers is to give them $372 million in pay increases.

If that’s the case, then McMaster’s proposal to offer $33 million in pay increases to South Carolina’s 60,000 state employees must mean that he does not value their excellence at all.

How insulting to our hard-working state employees.

David White, Charleston

On the Democrats

It’s disgusting to see Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and the rest of the wannabe presidents come to South Carolina to pander for the African American vote.

As an independent voter and an old white guy, I don’t base my opinions on what anyone says — regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Instead I look at their deeds and how they have done their jobs.

The Democrats have violated their oaths of office by not representing all of the people; they have conspired to lie, cheat and steal our tax dollars in an attempt to remove our elected president. Any voter of any race who is thinking of voting for the Democrats should look at how far our nation has progressed under President Trump.

Gregory Topliff, Warrenville

This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 9:17 AM.