Now that the election is over, we are constantly told to accept the results. In a democracy, we are told, that is what people do. But it is not. We cannot acquiesce to the whims of a demagogue who did not get the popular vote. Every decision this president makes must be fought and challenged to preserve some semblance of democracy. Every pundit and media outlet that was utterly wrong on this election now pontificates on the need to follow our new president. Wrong. We have been brought to this quagmire by their failure of vigilance, we can not afford to make that mistake. As Steven Biko said, “The most potent weapon the oppressor has is the mind of the oppressed.”
Edward Juillard, West Beverly
Soda tax bad for business
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s tax on soda pop is illogical and doomed to fail. First of all, sugar is in almost everything consumed, from catsup and mustard to the jar of dry roasted peanuts on my desk. Kids and many adults consume more sugar in candy and other treats on Halloween night than they consume in soft drinks in two weeks. Taxing soda pop doesn’t really address the “sugar problem” at all.
Second, I grew up in Hegewisch on Chicago’s far Southeast Side. When I was a kid, there were at least nine gas stations within 10 blocks of my home. Today, you will find no gas stations in Hegewisch. Why? Because of taxes on gas by the city, county and state, gas is about a $1 a gallon less expensive over the state line in Indiana.
In the same way, how many Chicago neighborhoods and towns in Cook County now are going to suffer a significant loss in revenue because of the sugary drink tax? As Thomas Jefferson said, “The power to tax is the power to destroy.” Politicians in Illinois should take those words as gospel.
Thomas Sharp, Lincoln Park
Build the wall the Trump way
Donald Trump can build the wall along America’s Mexican border with no cost to the American taxpayer. He can build it and then refuse to pay those who built it.
Karen Wagner, Rolling Meadows
