Mailbag: Meyer bluffing on tax increase

Meyer bluffing on tax increase

In reading the article regarding the 15 percent tax increase, I had to laugh at Matt Meyer's comments. His bluff about cutting back on libraries, closing parks, etc., made me laugh. 

He worked to hard to promote the libraries, and now wants to close them? He will go to any lengths to get what he wants.  

I believe the power as county executive went to his head. As Abraham Lincoln said: "You can fool all the people some of the time and some people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time." 

The people of New Castle County can see right through his bluffing. I can guarantee you he will not be re-elected, especially if the 15 percent tax increase passes.  

Bring back the old administration — seems they did a much better job in handling our money.

—Donna McNeill, Hockessin

Strangers band together to save ducks

We were all strangers but we had one thing in common: We were parents. So when a wayward mother duck and her 15 ducklings made their way through the perilous Midway Shopping Center parking lot, our hearts went out to them. 

A retired couple from Bear, a pastor and his wife from a church in New Jersey, a mother and child from Puerto Rico who they had taken in after Hurricane Maria, my sister from Georgia and me instinctively formed a little group. Abandoning our shopping, we took action to steer traffic away from the intrepid family of fowl.

From a nearby Five Below, we brought butterfly nets and a basket. We scooped up the mom and ducklings, put them in the basket and a cardboard box and drove them to nearby Greenbank Park.

Trekking through the park and climbing down a muddy and rocky bank we came to the edge of a murky pond. The eight of us gave celebratory applause as we released the family back into their natural habitat.  

It felt good to help such a mother on Mother's day. We were quite pleased with ourselves too.

—Elizabeth Houston, Wilmington

Where is outrage over Gaza killings?

My heart is breaking at the reports coming from Gaza. To date,109 Gazans have been murdered and over 1,200 have been injured in a peaceful protest against Israel’s inhumane blockade of their land.

Israel has prevented residents from entering or leaving Gaza for eleven years now, by land, by sea or by air. More recently, it has cut off electricity and water from Gaza, not to mention food and supplies, rendering that land unhabitable.  

Some have said that if the Palestinians gave up bombs and missiles and instead marched unarmed to the border, Israel could not possibly retaliate against them.  Yet this is what has happened. Israel is deliberately killing peaceful protesters.  

Where is the voice of the Jewish Community Relations Committee now? Why is John Elzufon, a frequent contributor to this paper, so silent?  

Why does Sen. Chris Coons, a strong defender of the U.S. “special relationship” with Israel, not speak out against the indefensible atrocity? Am I the only Jewish person whose conscience requires me to speak out? 

—Mary-Lee Lutz, Newark

Democrats don't have healthcare solutions

The plea for Democrats and the GOP to work together was a lie by Sen. Patty Murray. It was a divisive, false fable on healthcare woes.

Much has been written on the spiraling costs of premiums during the years under Democrats' control. Instead of bipartisan problem-solving the Dem leadership would lie and play the blame game. 

Independent experts have pointed to flaws in Obamacare, which required citizens to buy policies with extras they would not need. Gone was competitive insurance and in place a forced punitive policy with rising costs. Millions of middle class could no longer afford their premiums and still we all paid for the subsidies for others. 

Don’t allow Sen Schumer and Murray spread the lies of blame but urge all sides to stay in Congress with no recesses and work for the taxpayers on affordable healthcare. 

—Rita Healy, Milton