Michelin got it half right with Polk County dining recommendation
The Nineteen61 restaurant, under the direction of Marcos and Emerson, has certainly produced an upscale dining and drinking experience to Polk County.
The eclectic but regional cuisine, the vibrant bar and lounge and the usually good service have given residents who value ambience, food creativity and a lively bar environment in dining a favorite, and in my opinion, the only real choice in Lakeland.
However, the Michelin reviewer completely missed the other dining establishment in Polk County that absolutely deserves national recognition — Arrabellas in Winter Haven. The understated architectural elegance, the consistently excellent service, the fabulous menu, combined with a comfortable lounge and terrific live piano music — all contribute to the most complete fine dining experience in Polk County.
If you haven’t tried either, try both. And you decide if Michelin got it half right.
Richard Thornton, Lakeland
Property tax plan puts the burden on renters
It is not surprising that Gov. Ron DeSantis and his cohorts favor families with the financial ability to own their own homestead at the expense of families who are unable to own their own housing.
Property tax rates are determined by dividing the budget not recovered by revenues by the assessed property values. Removal of assessed values from the calculation increases the tax rate for all other properties, including the rental properties of landlords.
The landlords recover their expenses though the rents they collect. This decreases the renters’ ability to escape the rent cycle.
Donald Harrison, Winter Haven
We need a progressive tax plan
The May 27 headline, “In Florida, the rich are getting richer,” brings into focus the major problem of our time: income inequality and our national debt. This is what fuels the populist movement, both on the right and the left, throughout our country.
The MAGA movement put their money on President Trump and his many campaign promises to “drain the swamp.” What he has delivered is the swampiest administrations in history.
From surrounding himself with the richest of the rich, to policies that have targeted cuts to middle- and lower-class citizens for Medicaid, health care and food assistance programs. A brutal immigration policy with untrained ICE agents and inhumane concentration camps. Our national debt has grown by $2.23 trillion and enriched his family and friends. Inflation is rising faster than any time since Trump’s first term.
The administration’s feckless Iranian foreign policy has cost us $29 billion through May 12, killing thousands of innocent people and severely damaging the international economy. Emboldening Iran’s international standing and diminishing the United States’ status. Our enemies laugh, our allies don’t trust us.
The solution to our debt is a progressive tax plan, taxing those who benefited most, not those harmed.
Bruce W. Paulson, Winter Haven
Misleading messages while our pockets are picked
While we focus on distractions like transgender issues that are almost non-existent, we are losing ground on the big ones like healthcare, housing, and affordability. We are easily distracted by the spineless, unaccountable, empty suits we have elected; they offer no solutions to the issues that really matter.
Pope Leo says that disinformation “found a powerful amplifier” with AI through the ability to “manipulate content, images and videos,” which exposes people to “biased or misleading perspectives.” The pontiff said democracy is weakened when pragmatism, that is “what appears useful, effective,” substitutes for truth. “Indifference to the truth leads, slowly but surely, to a descent to total authoritarianism.
Using the authoritarian playbook of former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, which enriched Viktor and impoverished Hungary, our president is investing lawlessly, polishing his tasteless gold-trimmed Ballroom and Arch legacy, while our elderly homelessness grows and America flirts with bankruptcy.
Memorial Day was a good day to reflect on those who gave their lives, enabling us to live better lives, being stolen by manipulation, biased and misleading perspectives, while our pockets are being picked.
Robert Connors, Lakeland
The embarrassment of the Trump administration
How long do Americans have to endure the rogue administration of Donald John Trump. The Supreme Court greenlighted his corrupt governance. His hand-picked Cabinet(which should never have been OK’d by the Senate) suck up to him on an hourly basis.
This man doesn’t have enough brain power to negotiate with a 12 year old, let alone heads of state. The world ridicules him while millions here idolize him. Those people drank a different Kool-Aid. Trump has turned the United States from the most respected country in the world into the most hated country in the world. I don’t know what “Project 2025” was all about, but I am pretty sure it was a failure.
Hopefully we can wright the ship once the Big Boy is gone.
Dennis Sullivan, Lakeland
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This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Michelin got it half right with Polk dining recommendation (Voice)
Reporting by Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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