Letters: Bidirectional EVs | Trump’s grip | ‘Sweetheart deal’ | Jury’s say | Targeting TB | Bad for Starbucks
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State shouldn’t force
bidirectional EVs
Re: “State should require EVs to power homes, businesses” (Page A6, June 14).
Now that state Sen. Nancy Skinner and the politicians in Sacramento have given us about the highest prices in the country for inadequate and unreliable electricity, she wants to jack up the price of EVs to make up for the state’s crummy electric system.
She fails to mention the huge cost to modify building wiring to do this, and that an EV can’t power a whole house without draining the EV. This will only make sense for a tiny handful of relatively wealthy people.
Rather than politicians dictating how to build EVs, let EV manufacturers decide if there is enough demand to warrant bidirectional charging on every vehicle and if not, then those who want it can pay for the option.
And the answer to Skinner’s flimsy excuses for our unreliable grid is to fix the grid, not force people to pay for something they don’t need and will never use.
Dick Patterson
El Cerrito
Convicted rioter shows
grip Trump still has
Re: “Man who shocked officer gets 12 years in prison” (Page A4, June 22).
Daniel Rodriguez, a rioter who shocked Washington, D.C., police officer Michael Fanone in the neck with a Taser during the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, was sentenced to 12 years and 7 months for conspiracy, assault with a deadly weapon and obstruction of an official proceeding. As he exited the courtroom, Rodriguez shouted “Trump won.” He is yet another sad example of a chump for Trump who ends up under the bus while Donald Trump is still at large.
I can just see the campaign hats if Trump manages to run again: “Chump for Trump 2024.”
Bob Benson
Lafayette
Hunter Biden didn’t
get ‘sweetheart deal’
Kevin McCarthy is calling Hunter Biden’s resolution to his legal problems a “sweetheart” deal. McCarthy believes Hunter is getting special treatment because he is the president’s son. However, there is a difference between his deal and the legal pounding that Trump is taking. Hunter admitted wrongdoing and agreed to a deal to stay out of prison. Trump has not and cannot admit he has done anything wrong, so has nothing to apologize for. Trump wants to be considered the victim, to get sympathy — and donations.
Trump has been charged with many serious crimes because of his own greed and insatiable need for power. He believes he has done no wrong; that he can’t be wrong. Trump obviously does not know the difference between right and wrong. This is a dangerous stance for someone who wants to control the country.
Jim Cauble
Hayward
Let jury have say before
talk of Trump pardon
Re: “The best move for Biden would be giving Donald Trump pardon” (Page 12, June 18).
Marc Thiessen’s case that Donald Trump should be pardoned to heal the nation is like making a case to break the dam to prevent flooding downstream.
Trump is the greatest divider this country has ever known. He was instrumental in the Jan. 6 insurrection. He attacks the judges and the judicial system nonstop and almost daily. He is inciting violence in his talks without any hesitation. He could have returned the documents he stored illegally, and the case would have closed without any issue. Instead, he used his pulpit to fight the system and claim innocence when he is totally guilty.
Now it is time to pay the penalty if a jury agrees. Mr. Thiessen has cleverly used all the Republican talking points. Let us leave it to the jury to decide first before making a case to pardon him.
Subru Bhat
Union City
DeSaulnier must sign
on to bill targeting TB
We really appreciate our Congressman, Mark DeSaulnier. He must be one of the busiest and most dedicated of all our representatives, often hosting one or two town halls a week here in Contra Costa County.
He is very approachable to requests from us as constituents, especially when it comes to helping people in need.
Personally, I am interested in global poverty issues as well as local ones, and, he has, in the past, supported both domestic and global poverty issues when they come up in Congress.
That is why I am wondering if there is a reason why he has not signed onto the End TB Now Act, H.R.1776, which was introduced in the current Congress last March, even though some of us here who are very interested in this issue have personally gone to his office with the request that he do so.
Tari Nicholson
Martinez
Unions bad business
for Starbucks
When Starbucks started they not only changed the way we drank coffee but also the way fast food employees were treated. Baristas earned higher pay and benefits too. As time went on it got even better with stock purchase plans and education benefits. People lined up for these opportunities.
All that is not good enough anymore apparently as more and more Starbucks employees join unions criticizing what they had knowingly signed on for. They seem to have forgotten that they work for the company, not the other way around. The liberals in Congress even questioned Starbucks founder Howard Schulz about preventing unions in the company’s stores. He was once championed as a progressive company leader.
This sense of entitlement is going to hurt them in the long run as there will simply be fewer positions available as the company cuts costs.
Mike Kujacich
Livermore