LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Aid, not bombs, is the best solution

4/24/2017

President Trump said his emotional reaction to the shocking footage of children dying from nerve gas attacks was the reason for his decision to bomb Syrian airfields.

Hopefully, his feelings will lead him to consider other ways to help children whose lives have been destroyed by war.

While there may be a place for military action, the problems in Syria cannot be solved by bombs alone. President Trump’s own Secretary of Defense, Gen. James Mattis, underscored the importance of international development aid to our national security. “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition.”

The State Department not only provides much-needed emergency relief, it also invests in smart programs that address the root causes of poverty and political unrest. Lifesaving foreign assistance funding represents 1 percent of the U.S. budget. 

As a volunteer advocate for CARE since 2009, I have seen the power of effective programs that save millions of lives every year. These are not just handouts. They address issues like maternal and child health, food insecurity, and healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies to alleviate poverty long-term.

If you care about these issues, please contact your representatives and let them know that Ohio cares about the world.

JENNIFER SADER

Sylvania

 

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Mayor doesn’t deserve re-election

Last year, Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson said there was no money to repair residential streets. All of a sudden, the first of the year, she found $4 million.

She then found another $3 million for a total of $7 million. Where did all this money come from? Was it the mayor’s money tree?

One-third of the money that was approved from the levy was for residential streets. The mayor wants to repair several major streets. That was not what the levy was for. She does not care about the citizens of Toledo and the streets they live on.

All the mayor wants to do is spend money to patch the streets, not to repair or replace them. Most alleys in the city are better than residential streets.

With her poor history of leading the city, why would Ms. Hicks-Hudson get the backing of the Democratic Party for re-election? She needs to be removed from office, not re-elected.

HOWARD WESENBERG

Dickens Drive