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A vehicle displays a sign reading Protect Our Freedom To Vote in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19, 2022. The Supreme Court ruling weakens the Voting Rights Act, risking more partisan gerrymandering, less representation for voters of color and lopsided elections.<\/p>\n
Stefani Reynolds\/AFP<\/p>\n
TNS<\/p>\n
Less accountable government<\/p>\n
\u201cHow Supreme Court\u2019s Voting Rights Ruling could affect the midterms and beyond<\/a>,\u201d (fresnobee.com<\/a>, April 29)<\/p>\n The Supreme Court decision just reversed hard-won progress under the Voting Rights Act.<\/p>\n It means less representation for millions of Black Americans and other voters of color, as lawmakers gain the ability to manipulate their districts.<\/p>\n There will be more extreme partisan gerrymandering, lopsided elections, less accountable government and policies that hurt rather than help with everyday life.<\/p>\n It does not have to be this way. We can mobilize around reform, new laws and, where necessary, constitutional amendments for fairer government. Only then can we feel the benefits of a balanced court, a truly representative Congress and an election system free from the distorting power of extreme corporate and partisan manipulation.<\/p>\n Paul Bacon<\/p>\n Hallandale Beach, Fla.<\/p>\n Who is paying your candidate?<\/p>\n \u201cCampaign finance reform can save our republic<\/a>,\u201d (fresnobee.com<\/a>, April 5, 2017)<\/p>\n Every election cycle, candidates flood our screens, telling us who they are, what they value and how they will \u201cfight\u201d for us. But there is a more important question voters should ask: Who works for whom?<\/p>\n Here in Fresno and across California, the honest answer is rarely \u201cthe people.\u201d More often, it is the donors. Modern political campaigns are fueled by money, and viability is measured less by ideas than by fundraising totals. Candidates must prove to donors and political action committees that they can generate financial momentum.<\/p>\n And, like any investment, money in politics expects a return. This is not necessarily about corruption or bad intent; it is about incentives. When large contributions shape a campaign, they inevitably shape priorities.<\/p>\n The result is a system where voters compete with well-funded interests for influence, and, too often, lose.<\/p>\n William Brown<\/p>\n Visalia<\/p>\n California must build<\/p>\n \u201cCalifornia committee kills bill aiming to end tax break for corporate landlords<\/a>,\u201d (fresnobee.com<\/a>, April 27)<\/p>\n The California Department of Housing and Community Development has been clear: over the last decade, the state produced fewer than 80,000 new homes per year \u2014 less than half of the roughly 180,000 required annually. That supply gap is the real crisis.<\/p>\n Instead of asking how to increase supply, we\u2019re fed a rotating list of scapegoats: boomers, NIMBYs, regulations and now \u201ccorporate landlords.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the question lawmakers should answer every time they propose a new restriction: Will this policy build a single new home? If the answer is no, it\u2019s political theater. Pushing investors out doesn\u2019t create ownership opportunities; it drives capital away from housing.<\/p>\n Eric Eisenhammer<\/p>\n Roseville<\/p>\n Don\u2019t feed the wildlife<\/p>\n \u201cCA officials warn of increased bear encounters, especially in Tahoe, as temps rise<\/a>,\u201d (fresnobee.com<\/a>, April 28)<\/p>\n When bears gain access to human food, conflict inevitably follows. Black bears are highly intelligent, but they are motivated by food. Once rewarded with unsecured garbage, bird or pet foods or backyard attractants, they quickly lose their natural wariness of people.<\/p>\n Communities across California already know what works: bear\u2011resistant trash containers, locking doors and windows, removing bird feeders during the time when bears are out of their dens and never feeding wildlife \u2014 intentionally or not. These tools are effective because they keep bears wild and people safe.<\/p>\n When we fail to prevent attractants, the outcome is often fatal for the bear \u2014 not the human. If we want fewer break\u2011ins, fewer emergency responses and fewer bears euthanized, the solution starts with us.<\/p>\n Dawn Ward<\/p>\n Placerville<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A vehicle displays a sign reading Protect Our Freedom To Vote in front of the U.S. Capitol in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-302655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}