Copyright Boulder Daily Camera
We are watching the death knell of public education Public education. A critical building block of Democracy. An institution that is meant to level the playing field so all can achieve their goals and, maybe more importantly, so all can be knowledgeable, competent, participatory citizens of our country. I fear we are seeing the demise of public education. It’s been coming. Book bans, poor teacher salaries, intrusion of religion, aging buildings, demand for free private education, proliferation of charter schools, lack of funding, changing demographics, lack of respect in general for public education. The list goes on. Without public education, we all just stay in our lane, with our sort, our people, others who think the same as us. It’s safe in some ways, but destroys democracy. No intermingling of ideas, no compromise (which is not a dirty word). There is just a determination to protect those who think the same way, while demonizing, destroying and totally disregarding all others. Trump’s politics continue to support the dismantling and destruction of public education. In fact, I believe we are watching the death knell of public education. I fear, as a result, we will see democracy wobble, and, all too possibly, fail. Barbara Wolpoff, Boulder Democrats should forget cultural issues “It’s the economy, stupid” was an internal political campaign slogan for Bill Clinton, the last president to have a balanced budget, and the only president in my lifetime to have budget surpluses over four consecutive years. Although Clinton’s presidency was overshadowed by a sexual scandal, he’s been widely cited as the most intellectually gifted president in modern history. Contrast this against the current occupant of what’s left of the White House, with the federal debt increasing $5.96 billion per day. Imagine that, almost six billion dollars of deficit spending every single day. The debt has increased by another trillion dollars in just the past two months. Trump’s current trade war with the rest of the world shows how little he and his advisors understand economics. It is fiscally impossible to have balanced trade with impoverished countries unless the U.S. standard of living were on par with those countries. It is fiscally impossible to have balanced trade with smaller countries unless their standard of living were inversely proportional to their population size compared to the U.S. To paraphrase the last fiscally successful president’s campaign slogan, “Hey, stupid, it’s basic economics.” My advice to Democrats: Forget the culture issues and focus exclusively on economics. Carl Lawrence, Boulder Gun safe giveaway was ‘beneficial to all concerned’ The Boulder Rotary Club held a Gun Safe Giveaway in the parking lot at Boulder Community Foothills Hospital on Saturday, Oct. 18. Club members had raised $20K in order to purchase safes. Five hundred and ten safes were given away that morning. Two hundred and sixty were biometric home safes, and 250 were car safes. Additionally, 150 cable locks, donated by Intermountain Health, were given away. It is our hope that secure storage will prevent accidents, suicides and homicides, which are too often related to domestic violence. We wish to thank the Office of the District Attorney, Boulder Community Health, YMCA of Northern CO and WY, Brady PAC, BeSmart, Colorado Faith Communities United, BVSD, the Boulder City Police Department, Fairview Interact Club and all who supported, promoted and volunteered at the event. We apologize to the 75+ people who were standing in line when we ran out. We appreciate the willingness of gun owners in this community to securely store their firearms. In case you were left standing in line, there will be a giveaway in Roosevelt Park in Longmont, following the Veterans’ Day Parade, noon to 2 p.m. A basic aim of Rotary is to engage in activities that are “beneficial to all concerned.” Mission accomplished! Constance Holden, Boulder
