Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington in 2010. A reader mentions Armey’s influence in the tea party.
AP
New ideas needed
Re: “Save Yourselves, Democrats — Democratic socialists’ platform is a path to ruin,” Tuesday editorial.
The comment about this potentially rising problem for Democrats neglects several facts about Republicans and the tea party eruption. First and foremost, the tea party was nurtured, even nursed into life, by Republican operatives, including ex-majority leader Dick Armey of Texas, and by Republican money.
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The powers in the party assumed it would all be to their benefit until it came back to bite them with repeated shutdowns of the federal government and constant disorder in Congress, especially in the House. They midwifed a movement and then lost control of it, almost as it was being born.
There’s no doubt that there are some goofball ideas kicking around among democratic socialists, apparently from people evidently too young to have learned the hard, disastrous and murderous lesson of communism.
The danger for Democrats is the fact that they get slammed constantly by Republicans, and their propaganda media empire, all of whom use the worst, dumbest statements any Democrat anywhere has ever made and then say, “See, this is what Democrats stand for!”
We need the perking of new ideas, even radical ones, to figure out our future. The democratic socialists don’t have enough power at the moment to influence much of anything. Fear not.
Doug Terry, Olney, Md., and formerly of Dallas
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Stop the madness
Re: “Preston Hollow towers face votes — City zoning battle intensifies as residents oppose $800M in project development,” Tuesday Metro & Business story.
This neighborhood should not be punished for Leland Burk, Gerald Stool and Mitchell Rasansky’s ill-conceived idea to build skyscrapers in the middle of a tranquil and serene neighborhood. They bought the property and have let it sit for seven years now. All sensible developers in the four quadrants, devastated by the tornado of 2019, have been beautifully rebuilt and are making huge profits. Amenities galore!
They say they can’t make it work at 54 feet. Everyone else has. Play by the rules, gentlemen!
Start now. You don’t need a zoning change. Get a permit and go to work. We are tired of the weeds, chug holes and ugly foundation slab. About 4,500 neighbors are saying stop the madness.
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MJ and Mel Cox, Dallas, Preston/Royal
A fan of density developments
As a lifelong Dallas resident, I constantly hear of and witness our city’s potholes getting worse, parks and rights-of-way not being maintained, schools deteriorating, the need for more police officers and the list goes on and on. I’m told it’s because of a lack of funds.
One seldom hears a complaint about Preston Center. Its addition of new, high-density developments over the years has added wonderful amenities for the homeowners and surrounding community, while creating millions of tax dollars annually to help offset some of our city’s financial problems.
When it comes to increased density developments in our neighborhoods, voices of reason are routinely drowned out by homeowners constantly screaming and interrupting, not willing to listen to others’ opinions.
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I’ve known the folks at Greenway Investment for over 40 years. To my knowledge, the dozens of developments they’ve built throughout North Texas have not only added to each city’s tax base, but have filled a need for the community. Most importantly, their developments have increased the enjoyment and value of neighboring property owners as well.
Given the chance, the same will happen at Preston Royal.
Renew the contract
My family has been with White Rock Rowing for four years now. It all started with a drive home from school in Little Forest Hills. It was a typical day when I saw these boats glide across the lake. At the time, we had tried conventional sports for our eldest child and nothing sparked joy. We thought, why not try rowing? We waited for the White Rock Rowing “Summer Learn to Row” program to start. Our fifth-grader was hooked by the end of the week.
I have watched my very shy child blossom into a coxswain. That would be the loudest person on the boat.
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The rowing community is amazing. They support not just young athletes, but also offer an extensive masters program (which keeps people on the lake) and an adaptive program (which helps people with physical challenges participate in this sport).
White Rock Boathouse took an unused space on the lake, restored it and 23 years later, it is a premium community event space in Dallas. All run by the nonprofit who then pays the city for the privilege to run all these programs.
Through annual donations from our rowing community, registration from the athletes and fees for use of the Filter Building, White Rock Boathouse maintains all the upkeep on all three buildings while providing the rowing programs.
Recently, news articles seem to be dragging White Rock Rowing into the political sphere, throwing around words like accessibility and accountability.
This program means a lot to Dallas. The kids have formed a community inside and outside of the program. We have people traveling from all over the area participating in this program.
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This isn’t just a District 9 issue. All of Dallas will be impacted. The right thing to do is renew the contract with White Rock Rowing and allow it to continue its successful stewardship of this important asset of our community.
Meghan Williams, Dallas
Owner should step aside
Texas Rangers owner Bob Simpson should sell the team. It seems he’s not interested in winning or putting a product on the field fans deserve.
Anyone who wins a title and then decides to drastically slash payroll lacks good business acumen and is not a good steward of the franchise.
At the trade deadline, Simpson fooled everyone and decided to not improve the team now or in the future. He should sell the team to someone who will do what it takes to compete.
Dallas-Fort Worth is a top 5 market. Ownership doesn’t have to spend like they are at Neiman Marcus, but Major League Baseball isn’t Dollar General, either.