Vote to ax early learning no surprise

The photo of the Sarasota County commissioners on Page A11 on June 12 tells us all we need to know.

Five white men, with four voting to slash funding for a school readiness program designed to assure that the children of those on the economic margins enter school on par with children from more well-off families (“Sarasota County Commission slashes childcare help; sheriff’s eviction program at risk,” June 11).

Once again, a group of Republicans attempting to balance a budget on the backs of those who can least afford it.

More: Oops, they did it again: County commissioners play favorites in providing funds

Commissioner Michael Moran attempted to ax funding for this program last year, labeling it “socialism.” Seriously, ask Moran to define that term.

Moran, a toe-the-line Republican opposes abortion rights. He advocates for fetal rights; however, his fealty to children ceases at birth.

Kudos to Commissioner Mark Smith, who voted to fund the program.

Jacqueline Vlaming, Osprey

Blooming party at Selby Gardens free

In “Offer free admission at Selby Gardens,” a letter published June 11, the writer complained that the Queen of the Night blooming party at Selby Gardens was unaffordable (“One night only: Rare cactus completes yearly bloom at Selby Gardens,” June 7).

In fact, the event was free to anyone. The day of the bloom it was posted as free on the Selby website. The Gardens couldn’t advertise it ahead of time as the peak bloom can’t be predicted until the day before.

Full disclosure: I am a volunteer gardener at Selby. As a retiree, I enjoy the leisure time to do that now, with the ability to earn a free membership for 200 hours of service. Not everyone can.

As it stands, Selby now has a diversity program that gives out free memberships to select low-income families. A positive step, yes, but not enough.

I heartily agree with the letter writer that Selby should offer free days for local residents, perhaps twice a month in the slow season. My fellow proletarians should be able to enjoy walking around amid the lush beauty of such a jewel of a place in our fair city.

Sarasota: Not just for the rich and famous.

Linda Kitch, Sarasota

Steube’s foolish vote on NATO funding

Just as President Joe Biden and other world leaders were, on the 80-year anniversary of D-Day, honoring the sacrifices made by allied troops, a total of 46 Republicans in the U.S. House voted in favor of an amendment to defund NATO.

One of those who voted in favor of cutting funding to NATO was U.S. Rep. Greg Steube of Sarasota.

As a veteran, Steube should know better than anyone how important it is for the United States to stand with our NATO allies. He would prefer, apparently, to pander to MAGA extremists operating under direction from the former president.

This vote by Steube is one in a long line of unfortunate votes, among them his refusal to certify the results of the 2020 election.

There are several candidates challenging Steube on the November ballot. All we can ask for is that voters select a more capable person to represent Southwest Florida.

Laurie Ulrop, Punta Gorda

Leaders used common sense with COVID

Nicole Russell’s June 9 column criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci’s handling of the COVID pandemic lacked common sense, context and facts (“Fauci admits errors on COVID”).

Other than that, it was well written.

Though the pandemic hit us little more than four years ago, it’s easy to forget the context of that event. COVID was a new disease we knew nothing about.

Lacking that knowledge, our leaders implemented common-sense protocols for infectious diseases, like social distancing and masks, that have been proven for hundreds of years to reduce death and suffering.

As we learned more about the disease and vaccines became available, our leaders modified their guidelines.

What’s wrong with that?

The argument that children should have been exempted from those realities because they were less vulnerable completely ignores their ability to infect and potentially kill the teachers, school staff and older adults they contacted.

COVID was a worldwide event that we, in our uniquely American way, managed better than most other countries. We created the vaccines that saved millions of lives and our economy recovered faster than nearly every other country.

Rather than seeing every issue through partisan lenses, as Americans, let’s acknowledge our victories.

Lin Williams, Venice

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota County politicians show their heartless side with care cut