#Letters to the Editor — Aug. 8, 2021

Dem spendfest
President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi all remind me of J. Wellington Wimpy, who famously said, “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” (“Dems’ Next $pend-a-thon,” Editorial, Aug, 5).

Tuesday may never come for taxpayers stuck with the tab. They will have to pay for all the goodies promised in this legislative nightmare.
How many hundreds, if not several thousand, local pork-barrel projects are buried in the 2,700-plus pages in this bill? What ever happened to pay as you go or real budget offsets to pay the tab?

Passage of this boondoggle will end up increasing our national debt by hundreds of billions more. Many of the promised anticipated spending offsets and future revenue sources to pay for this bill will never come to fruition. So much for open transparency in government.

Larry Penner
Great Neck

Fighting extremists
Jonathan S. Tobin’s mischaracterization of Anti-Defamation League and PayPal’s partnership as an attempt to censor conservative voices is disingenuous and without any evidence (“Big Tech Taps Lefties As Online Hate Czars,” July 29).

In truth, our partnership with PayPal will investigate and address extremists’ attempts to exploit financial systems to promote, support and finance violent criminal activity.

We are looking into the funding of domestic extremists across the ideological spectrum. We wholeheartedly support the First Amendment, but freedom of speech is not freedom to promote, support and finance violent and criminal extremist activity.

Anti-Defamation League proudly stands on its nonpartisan record: We fight anti-Semitism and hate from all sides, regardless of the source.

Esta Epstein
Board Chair, Anti-Defamation League
Manhattan

Cooper’s 911 call
Amy Cooper had every right to call the police because she perceived a threat from a stranger, Christian Cooper (“ ‘Park Karen’s story,” Aug. 4).

He had no right to tell her to put her dog on a leash or to tell her to comply with anything. He has no right to tell anyone in Central Park to do anything. He had no right to record her without her consent.

When he said he was going to do something she was not going to like, this was a threat, and she had the right to call 911. She should sue her employer for wrongful termination.

Gary Acerra
Staten Island

Security hypocrisy
Regarding “Cori Bush Will Pay $200K for Private Security — But Still Wants To Defund Police” (Aug. 5), Rep. Bush says she “needs” private security because of death threats but ignores the threshold question: What do low-income citizens who face death threats from wanton violence in their communities do who cannot afford private security?

The glaring hypocrisy of the progressive left — with their no-bail laws and other senseless policies, which have left criminals unaccountable for their crimes, thereby producing a tsunami of violent crime and killing in America’s cities — is exacerbated by their “defund the police”movement, which aims to leave those communities totally unsafe and unprotected.

Shame on our so-called “leaders” who promote these ludicrous policies — and then pay to protect themselves privately.

The blood of innocent citizens caught in the midst of the violence that our progressive leaders have caused is on the selfish, hypocritical hands of these “leaders.”

Marc E. Kasowitz
Manhattan

Want to weigh in on today’s stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to [email protected]. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy and style.