Congress should back act of war

Though folks on both sides of the aisle are praising the strategic strikes against Syria undertaken by President Trump in response to the unleashing of chemical weapons on their own people, proceed with caution.

Congress’ hand should be forced to endorse and ratify this program, as only Congress can constitutionally, officially engage the nation in an act of war per the War Powers Resolution. To rein in the president’s claimed powers, the War Powers Resolution proscribes the only power of the president to wage war which is recognized by Congress.

A strike against another sovereign nation, no matter its etiology, can be interpreted as an act of war. Where will the line be drawn? Why have we not treated Rwanda, the Sudan, Iran, Iraq and seceded nations from Russia to this standard when genocide was committed against their peoples? Is this to be our line in the sand? Will our failure to act or our actions create refugees and immigrants that we will be forced to absorbed?

Finally, a U.S. president is unafraid to exert leadership in the face of genocide on a people not our own. Should regime change be next? Who decides the successors? When our actions lead to the destruction of economies and political structures, what will be the infrastructure to feed, house and clothe people?

When rogue nations’ political structures are diametrically different from ours, brakes need to be pumped, lest we take on a burden which may undermine the very concepts of who we are and what constitutionally we should be about. If not us, who will render aid in view of the persistent vacuum for over eight years?

And, to the uninformed, Hitler did unleash chemical gas as one of his preferred methods of human extermination.

— Dr. Ada Fisher

Salisbury

UNC’s blessings

I am not a normal sports fan, but some times during March Madness I do become a basketball fan for as long as North Carolina teams are involved. I don’t usually read the sports pages, but the headlines about the “Maye Family Sports Tree” caught my attention. I had to read about “Luke’s game winning jumper” which continued UNC’s chance of winning the Final Four.

It was an interesting story and warmed my heart when I read the response Luke’s grandfather made when a friend told him he must be very proud of his grandson. Luke’s grandfather responded by saying: “Proud is not the word … blessed and thankful” were his feelings. He also said he had been around sports long enough to know that “it’s all from the good Lord above and it can be taken away at anytime too, so you just need to be thankful.” He later told Luke “This is a perfect example of how hard work can pay off in sports.”

It was such a blessing for me to hear someone give thanks to the Lord instead of being too proud of themselves. (Personally, I can relate to God’s amazing grace.) And we can all give thanks to the Lord that UNC won the Final Four in 2017. Amen!

— Linda S. Beck

Woodleaf

Let market fix care

Today much of the news is centered on the (un)Affordable Care Act. The government should get out of the insurance business. They make bad decisions based more on politics than good business decisions.

Medical coverage for the people could be solved better by the insurance industry — yes, a market-based solution. Two problems, however, remain.

How do we insure those people with pre-existing sickness? Several solutions come to mind: 1. Develop a policy for them that will not cover the pre-existing condition, and/or 2. Establish coverage with a deductible that will cover this condition after the deductible is satisfied. This way other medical conditions will be covered and the government could find a way to help these individuals with their deductible or a welfare solution for them. Insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions is not insurance, but welfare.

One other group for consideration by government is those that can’t afford medical coverage.

Somehow, legislators need to find a way to look for positive end results and stop worrying about the process for getting there. Unfortunately, politicians have a single eye that only sees political solutions rather than free market solutions. If they truly believe in capitalism and the free market, they would just get out of the way and let people with free market solutions resolve this problem.

If one of the problem for solutions is centered on re-election, then don’t term limits for Congress make more sense now than ever? It is not that complicated if they could just see where they are going now will not work and listen to the people that could resolve this medical care for the people, the insurance industry.

— Richard Roberts

Kannapolis

He’s 100 percent correct

President Trump’s response in ordering air strikes to demolish the Syrian airport that was being used to enable airplanes to take off and rain bombs containing nerve gas on innocent civilians was absolutely 100 percent correct. Well done, Mr. President!

— Herb Stark

Mooresville