Chicago, look to the future and go ahead with Elon Musk’s tunnel to O’Hare

I agree that there should be solid parameters concerning the Tesla tunnel project to O’Hare. But if we have it in writing that Elon Musk is going to build this tunnel with his own money and recoup that money by running the tunnel kind of like a tollway system, more power to him. Are we going to worry every time someone says they are going to invest in the city? Are we going to badger them to the point of them walking away?

I’ve seen some of the mayor’s political adversaries claiming $20 or $25 probably would be too much for an executive or anyone to pay coming from O’Hare to downtown. When was the last time any of these geniuses called Uber or Lyft or maybe even just a taxi or limousine? I think it’s time to quit playing politics every time someone decides to build something in Chicago. Like the Lucas Museum on the lakefront, that was supposed to be friends of the park fighting against it? No, it was one of the mayor’s political adversaries, like Juanita Irizarry, driving a stake through its heart.

If the city ever wants to move forward, then it needs to start looking forward. Every single time there is an opportunity to put Chicago in a class by itself, we have some political shenanigans by those who claim to have knowledge but really possess none. If Amazon comes to Chicago, that would be great! The O’Hare Airport upgrades would definitely help in that category, the Tesla tunnel would definitely help in that category. It will also help as you say, bring more businesses to the city.

So let’s go ahead and do this, because not only will this benefit those coming from O’Hare Airport, it will also help revitalize downtown, and it will bring more jobs to the Loop and near Loop areas. I think that’s a benefit. I think that a tunnel coming from the South Side of the city to downtown would be beneficial for revitalizing downtown areas, or from the airport to the South Side. The ability to transverse the city in a few minutes could really benefit all citizens citywide.

John Sorg, Waukegan

Erasing the Trump legacy

Donald Trump will never see the inside of a prison cell and it’s unlikely that he will even be impeached, certainly not with his own party occupying a majority of House seats.

But history has a way of sorting out bad actors who frequent the American political stage. And ironically it will be the institutions that Trump berated the most that will ultimately bring him down. It will be the result of the honest labors of Justice Department officials, national security personnel and conscientious newspaper reporters who in the end will ferret out the facts from the many untruths that have come to characterize this leader and his administration.

I only hope that someday I might see a return to civility. That Roseanne moments are few and far between. And that division and hatred between political parties and ethnic groups will fade away, along with images of Trump saluting dictators and making racist slurs at his pep rallies.

And finally, it is only right that the Trump legacy is wiped clean by his successors just as he tried with his predecessor. That the only memory left of his time in office is a record of his failed attempt to undermine the democratic process to further his own ends.

Robert Ory, Elgin

Taxpayers always end up paying

The “won’t cost the taxpayers” Obama Library is now revealed to cost taxpayers millions, in addition to the free park space lost. The downtown parks weren’t paid for entirely by private funds, either. Now an underground tunnel is proposed to take passengers from the Loop to O’Hare Airport, which “won’t cost the taxpayers.” That’s a dream in the minds of the mayor and his cronies.

There has never been a taxpayer-free project in the history of Chicago, the home of the cost overrun. Several administrations are guilty of big plans, but no money. O’Hare is a prime example, from its days as Orchard Airfield to Douglas Aircraft and finally O’Hare. Which cost the airlines millions and the city nothing, from the 1950s to the present, if you believe City Hall. I don’t.

John Culloton, West Chicago

Tearing up presidential papers

President Donald Trump tears up papers after he has read (?) them. Our tax dollars are going to pay two aides $65,000 each, per year, to put the pieces back together. I guess we should be glad he isn’t shredding them. Putting those papers back together would cost us millions, require more than two puzzlers, and take much more time.

We are certainly in uncharted territory with this president. I can only hope that saner heads prevail, and the damage to our nation and its people stops.

Karen Wagner, Rolling Meadows