Here in the Coachella Valley, many of us have friends, neighbors, and family members who served in America’s long wars in the Middle East. We know the cost of those decisions.
Now the United States is sliding into another war, this time with Iran — and once again it is happening without meaningful debate in Congress.
Reports are already emerging of devastating civilian casualties, including a missile strike near a girls’ school that may have killed more than a hundred children. If even part of that proves true, it should shake the conscience of every American.
War is not a slogan or a headline. It is soldiers sent into danger and families burying their loved ones.
Before this conflict spirals into another endless Middle East war, Congress — including our own representatives — must step forward and explain why this war is necessary and what the plan is to end it.
Michael Temlin, Palm Springs
SAVE Act a partisan attack on voting rights
The Senate should not approve the SAVE Act that was passed by the House. Many studies/audits have been carried out that clearly show voting by noncitizens is extremely rare, and never happens in an amount that could change election results.
Among the act’s flaws:
1) Passports are expensive and are subject to sabotage by a hyper-partisan, rogue, or incompetent secretary of state who could fail to properly manage the process. It also gives the federal government powerful leverage over the elections process that the Constitution grants to the States.
2) The act does not provide funding for the extra administrative work needed by state elections officials to implement the law.
3) The act requires the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to issue guidance on implementation within 10 days of enactment — insufficient time for the mid-term elections.
4) The act imposes criminal penalties for officials who register someone to vote who is an actual U.S. citizen but doesn’t provide the proper documentation. It also allows private citizens to sue election officials whom they suspect of doing so.
These provisions allow for a great deal of mischief on the part of partisan agitators and crackpots holding outlandish conspiracy theories. The SAVE Act is a deeply flawed solution looking to solve a nonexistent problem.
Debra Vogler, Palm Desert
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Congress must make a plan to end Iran war
Reporting by Readers, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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