Letters: Gaetz report | Climate gains | Political literacy | Traditional courtesies | RFK Jr.

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.

Public has the right
to see Gaetz report

Re: “Lawmakers demand ethics report on Gaetz” (Page A4, Nov. 15).

We as taxpayers fund the Congress and their staff and, unless it’s a matter of national security, we deserve to see their findings.

The House Ethics Commission should release the Matt Gaetz report because we paid for it.

Gary Zega
Monte Sereno

Urge Congress to keep
IRA climate gains

Re: “Biden visits Amazon rainforest, vows progress for clean energy will prevail” (Page A4, Nov. 18).

President Biden’s trip to the Amazon demonstrates a U.S. commitment to the clean energy revolution, which Biden has fostered during his term.

As we transition to a new administration, Mr. Trump has said he wants to rescind the payouts from past climate legislation. Such actions would truly be a shame. Funding of clean energy, notably from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), is boosting development of clean energy in all its forms and creating good jobs for the U.S. labor force. Many of these new jobs are in Republican districts and that is why action on climate change should be sought by both parties. People in red states benefit just as much as those in blue states, and promotion of clean energy technologies increases energy efficiencies and lowers the cost of energy.

Write your members of Congress and urge them to keep the IRA and other climate legislation in place.

Rob Hogue
Menlo Park

Media should elevate
political literacy

Re: “Trump’s cabinet selections divisive” (Page A1, Nov. 17).

The last thing that I want to read about the new MAGA political order is the opinion of a tattoo parlor owner in Florida who believes that the current cabinet selections are on par with the work of Picasso. Lost on the tattoo artist is the fact that the Spanish Civil War and WWI had an enormous impact on Picasso.

The Mercury News should strive to better inform its readers so that we can improve the political literacy levels of the nation.

Dave Clark
San Mateo

Trump has not earned
traditional courtesies

Re: “Biden to Trump: ‘Welcome back’” (Page A1, Nov. 14).

This meeting was not necessary, nor did it serve any national interest or purpose. President Biden and Vice President Harris had already exercised one of the most sacred responsibilities of their office: acknowledging the election results and authorizing the transfer of power. Donald Trump failed to exercise this same oath after his defeat in 2020.

Trump did not earn the courtesy and respect that he failed to extend to President-elect Biden four years ago, even though President Obama extended this courtesy to Trump after his 2016 election victory over Hilary Clinton

This is not a political matter; it is a matter of right vs. wrong. A person who has broken a sacred bipartisan presidential tradition should not benefit from that tradition. Trump was a no-show at Biden’s inauguration even though Biden and the former presidents except Jimmy Carter attended Trump’s in 2017. Biden and the former presidents should return the favor in January.

Robert Chaykin
San Jose

Senate must not confirm
RFK Jr. as HHS chief

Re: “Trump picks RFK Jr. to lead Dept. of Health and Human Services” (Page A1, Nov. 15).

The Senate should not confirm Donald Trump’s absurd nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services, given his background of fighting vaccines and fluoridation of water, and his false claims about autism, treating COVID with hydroxychloroquine, the benefits of raw milk, etc. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in India on Nov. 22, 1963, teaching math and science. I’m sure that both John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy are rolling over in their graves at having a namesake who’s a kook.

Trump praised RFK Jr., saying, “More than anybody that I know of, he’s had an open mind.” If Trump were wiser he would know Groucho Marx’s advice: “Be open-minded, but not so open-minded that your brains fall out.” So far every one of Trump’s nominations has been poor, but that of RFK Jr. is ridiculous.

Peter Ross
San Jose