Letters: Learn from New York on fighting gun violence

I read with interest your editorial of Jan. 5 titled “Learn from New York on curbing gun violence.” Also interesting was Phil Kadner’s accompanying column titled “Chicago violence mystifies a nation.”

The suggestion to learn from New York was a good one. Why reinvent the wheel? New York found a winning formula. Let’s try it here, too.

The New York story is riveting. Telling its story would not only be a good read but would put the violence issue in perspective, provide proper respect for what New York accomplished, and give hope for Chicago.

I think New York did quite a few more things than were covered in your editorial. Let’s get a full understanding of what it may take to pull Chicago out of its death spiral.

Some of it may not be politically popular. Let’s see if the political will is there.

Kathleen Konicki, Homer Glen

Save Social Security

Could someone please explain to us how any party or part of government can take charge of Social Security and proceed to decide its fate? That money belongs to the people — it is our savings account. It has nothing to do with federal money at all.

Do not believe it is broke. If it really were, they would pay no attention to it at all.

The misinformation disseminated over the years has led to the general public believing the wrong ideas. If the agencies owing money to Social Security were to honor their debts and pay them back, our savings account would grow quickly.

We need to inform ourselves of the truth and guard our savings from theft. Social Security belongs to the people who have contributed, not to the agencies in government that have taken from it and now want it all.

Ruth Hosek, Near North Side

Good record

Before Obama, this country was in the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression, the worst record of job creation since Herbert Hoover, a complete collapse of the stock market and a budget surplus turned into a trillion-dollar deficit. The economy was in free fall, losing over 700,000 jobs per month.

Instead of supporting the president, the GOP decided to destroy him by obstructing, denying and preventing him from succeeding in anything he tried to accomplish with hundreds of filibusters — more than any other president in history — and not a single meeting to work with him to discuss plans to move the country forward.

So on his own, Obama passed the largest economic stimulus bill in American history, stopped a depression, saved the auto industry, and much more. Now unemployment is down from over 10 percent to under 5.9 percent and 11 million new jobs have been added during his tenure. We have had economic and private sector job growth, the budget deficit has been reduced by two-thirds and the stock market has doubled.

He thwarted the attempt to partially privatize Social Security and helped to strengthen Medicare. Created the Affordable Care Act giving millions access to health care which the GOP has been viciously attacking for six years saying when they are in power they will repeal and replace it even though they have nothing to replace it with.

For eight years the GOP has been digging a hole for Obama and now they have fallen into it,

Cecile Powell, Huntley

Bad liar

Wouldn’t you think that someone who lies as much as Donald Trump does would be better at it? He’s pathetic. How anyone believes anything that comes out of his mouth is beyond me.

Tony Galati, Lemont

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