Stop NDAs for elected officials
I recently found out through the AJC (“How a $20B data center plan secretly took root”) that there is a rash of local elected officials in Georgia signing nondisclosure agreements with profit-making companies to ram through new data centers without public input.
How is this not in conflict with their oaths of office? How is this not open corruption? They are elected to represent the people, but then they sign documents that require them to deceive the public and make backroom deals with private companies?
These officials must be recalled as soon as possible, and laws must be enacted to make this illegal if it isn’t already. Shameful.
JEAN SPENCER, ATHENS
Mismanaged Iran war has turned into quagmire
Trump’s management of the Iran war has devolved into a quagmire of his own making.
Media reports reveal that offensive weapons like long-range Tomahawk missiles are in short supply. More critical are shortages of defensive weapons, such as Patriot missile batteries. Replacement production will be lengthy and has not begun. Iran knows this.
How did we get here? U.S. Armed Forces have acted forcefully and skillfully. Iranian nuclear progress has been set back and its missile inventory has been reduced. Trump’s apparent strategy of exclusive reliance on bombing Iran into submission hasn’t delivered desired results. This approach alone didn’t work in Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan either.
What’s next? Trump is on his own, and his pursuit of a deal via diplomacy is a weak plan B. It has no deterrent value. Iran can and has alternately responded militarily by attacking Gulf nations and U.S. bases with missiles and economically by disrupting the free flow of oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
How Trump can achieve a winning deal for U.S./Western interests is a big challenge. Good luck, Mr. President. You’ll need lots of it.
RICH LAPIN, DUNWOODY
National debt needs bipartisan attention
Amid all the current talk about the midterms, the war in Iran or Trump’s fascination with gold monuments, there is a giant elephant in the room that is being completely ignored: the national debt.
We pay more interest on the national debt than we do to fund national defense or Medicare, all the while the national debt keeps growing. We are barreling straight toward national bankruptcy. We can’t just stop spending on government programs, and the only way out is more tax revenue. No politician wants to propose higher taxes, so what do they do: kick the can down the road.
I suggest a truly bipartisan commission to develop a tax plan that would take effect only if both parties agree, thereby relieving any one politician of the “tax and spend” accusation.
JOHN POOLER, DORAVILLE
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