Newsday letters to the editor Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Democrats must acknowledge errors

It seems to be especially tough for politicians to accept responsibility for their mistakes [“Clinton ‘part of resistance,’ ” News, May 3].

Unless Hillary Clinton and the Democrats accept their own fallibility in the mishandling of the presidential campaign, we are going to be doomed to eight years of President Donald Trump.

Blaming WikiLeaks’ timing is a lame excuse, because the public was so disgusted with politics as usual that it voted for a womanizer with little respect for the truth.

Clinton lost because she did not connect with and inspire the American working class. She should have won by a landslide! Historically, it has been the Democratic Party that has achieved valued social reform. The Democrats need to work to make sure we don’t become more of an oligarchy ruled by the wealthy few.

Holly Gordon, Bay Shore

LI should welcome

Jeff Sessions’ help

In a letter to the editor, the president of SUNY Old Westbury, the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, called Attorney General Jeff Sessions “an overt racist” [“Jeff Sessions should come to conference,” April 27]. This is so out of order and detrimental to Long Islanders that Butts should lose his job.

For years we have suffered killings with knives and guns by Hispanic gang members. Now it has gotten so bad that the federal government has to step in, and a dedicated man like Sessions is going to take hold and help us. Butts is calling him out as a racist, which we all know has nothing to do with crimes committed against Long Islanders.

Doesn’t Butts understand that the people most affected by the killings are Hispanics from law-abiding families? It’s their children who are being killed.

Robert Casale, Glen Head

Health care bill would penalize many

Newsday outlines the highlights of the health bill that passed in the House of Representatives by one vote [“House OKs health care bill,” News, May 5].

The idea that there will be “no penalty” for not being insured is false. If insurers can charge people more to cover pre-existing conditions after a gap in coverage, that’s a penalty. A huge one!

Did anybody carefully read this bill? Unfortunately, we’re hearing that many people who voted for it did not read it.

If you have a pre-existing condition, then you might have to pay more for insurance or even pay everything you have for medical treatment or suffer the loss of your health and possibly your life.

When did Americans become so mean?

Laura L. Lustbader,Huntington Station

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Twenty-four million Americans are in danger of losing access to or coverage for medical care. Many of them live on Long Island. The 217 Republican members of Congress who voted yes on Thursday are the new death panel.

Peter Hanson,Nesconset

Use student tests to evaluate teachers

As a school district taxpayer, I fully support testing to evaluate whether our tax money has been well spent [“Math test shows no opt-out letup,” News, May 5].

Opting out suggests that teachers are not to be held accountable for their students learning the subjects they teach. As a grandparent and overtaxed Long Islander, please tell me, who is responsible?

We taxpayers would opt out of our school taxes if we could. We have been shut down and silent for too long. It’s time to end this accountability nonsense.

The opt-out movement started with the teachers union flexing its considerable muscle against Common Core testing. On Long Island, unlike most places, the movement took off like wildfire.

It’s sad to see teachers and administrators in open revolt, enlisting parents to involve their children over such a self-serving issue. But it’s not surprising. Long Island is the land where you can’t ever spend too much on education. That would be OK if kids benefited from all the overspending, but most taxpayers are propping up a school system that answers to no one.

Andrea Vecchio,East Islip

Editor’s note: The writer is an activist with the taxpayer groups East Islip TaxPAC and Long Islanders for Educational Reform.