Feedback 5/25 

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Trump is a symbol

What is stunning to me is that so many in the media don't recognize that Trump is nothing more than a symbol that we're fed up with politics as usual. Even Trump with all his flaws is preferable to the same old garbage we keep receiving from career politicians.

I see this election as a turning point for America, and hope that gradually we'll move away from our present two-party system filled with self-serving hypocrites. Maybe this will ignite a revolution that will restore the glory to this once-great nation.

Instead of being "general managers of the universe," why don't we focus our efforts, money, and manpower here at home? It's time for men and women of all ages to stop putting up with today's political nonsense and improve America as a nation, not an empire.

DENNIS REGAN

Democrats are pro-poverty

CITY seems to have an irrational hatred of Trump and seems hell-bent on labeling him a racist. Trump's approach to the invasion from the south has little to do with racism and a whole lot more to do with economics.

The overwhelming reality is that you can't raise wages when there is an oversupply of labor, especially if the illegals are willing to work outside of US laws on wages. The left can wallow in ignorance all it wants, but the fact remains that the migrant influx has had a massive impact on wages in America and has driven down the standard of living for millions of Americans.

It really appears that the goal of the Democrats is to make people so poor that they have to rely upon handouts from the government. This then gives those same Democrats the leverage that they need to legislate away even more of our freedoms.

For somebody who grew up loving this country, it is heartbreaking to see the damage that has been done in the last eight years. The blaming Bush nonsense has gotten old and frankly just highlights the bushel of lies that has been tossed at us by Obama and his administration.

So, why do I support Trump? Simple: the Democrats don't deserve support and certainly, lies and fabrications aren't helping. Trump is the overwhelming best choice to turn the government and the corrupt media upside down.

DAVID FRANTZ

Leave the Loop

The Rose Fellowship's recommendations to make our downtown the proud center of a dynamic region (News, March 23) emphasized the importance of re-imagining Main Street to create a green pedestrian environment and on-street parking to promote retail. This would require narrowing the roadway to one way each direction.

It's important to realize that there are only two streets that cross the river downtown and continue on in each direction: the Inner Loop North and Main Street.

I don't think we should spend tens of thousands of dollars on a study to determine if the Inner Loop North can be eliminated, when this consultant team with impressive credentials has told us that we will need to reduce Main Street capacity, which will result in an increase of traffic on the only other E-W through route.

Replacing the Inner Loop North with surface streets would mean that users during peak times, which include school and transit buses, will face congestion at the six signal lights at major N-S arteries.

Priorities are important! These can be reflected in a Master Plan for downtown; we don't have one. A public infrastructure plan would recognize that it would be counterproductive to eliminate the Inner Loop North.

RICHARD ROSEN

Uber good for government, bad for people

Uber: Another big company destroying local business with Big Government's help.

Uber and Lyft are not in the business of ride-sharing; at least not in the long run. Uber and Lyft are in the business of creating a leased, self-driving car service. Auto manufacturers are already aligning with them and the government is loosening regulations for them. Uber and Lyft might even weaken public transportation.

The transition period appears to create jobs for the poor, but really allows local governments to clear out low-performing taxi services and to establish markets for ride-sharing. Once the taxi services are gone and self-driving cars are available, expect Uber and Lyft to drop their drivers and start directly serving customers.

This serves the interest of Big Government, which wants to deal with a few big national companies, rather than local business. It also creates vehicle manufacturing and maintenance jobs at regional centers, allowing governments to compete in "buying" jobs with tax incentives.

The end result will be the creation of the "Walmart" of taxi services and government control of mobility of the poor. It also allows for scaling back public transportation once personalized transportation services exist. You will see bus routes curtailed and a loss of good, unionized transportation jobs.

The working poor will be shuttled in self-driving car pools to their workplaces and whisked home; out of site and out of mind. It will not create jobs or opportunity, but ensure that cheap transportation exists to let us further push the poor to out-of-the-way neighborhoods.

I predict in 20 years this paper will lament how much money the poor must pay for housing and how much they must pay for ride rental services to get to work. It will also wonder why the poor are still isolated in the same neighborhoods. But it will love the fact that government can shut down the self-driving cars in a state of emergency or when these same people come out in the street to protest or riot demanding change.

Yes, Uber and Lyft are a benefit for government and for their investors. It will give the poor mobility, but at a price which I doubt is lower than public transportation.

PAUL MYERS

Questions about CRCDS sale

Two questions regarding the recently announced sale of the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School campus.

Is it remotely feasible to develop in a responsible manner what is essentially the eastern flank of Highland Park, the jewel in the crown of Olmsted's Monroe County Parks System?

And, with 20/20 hindsight on the railroaded Charlotte marina project, what assurances can the Warren mayoral administration provide that development greed will not usurp neighboring residents' concerns?

Questions surround the coincidence of this announcement precisely one week after the Lilac Festival, while also choosing not to reveal the buyer's identity. What exactly are the CRCDS trustees trying to hide?

PAUL BROOKES

Slavery's legacy always present

It's frankly ludicrous to suggest that the legacy of slavery need not touch us (Feedback, May 11). It touches all of us every day; it continues to provide privilege to white people and deny that same privilege to black people.

Look at Rochester today. Black people left the South for northern industrial centers in the early to mid-1900's to try to escape Jim Crow/the post-emancipation institutionalized racism of the South. This was followed by the flight of white people to the suburbs, and once the economy slowed, veritable ghettos in the northern city neighborhoods. How this happened is a very complex issue that owes much to the less-discussed institutionalized racism in the North.

White people have the privilege to avoid thinking about these issues, or going to economically depressed and racially segregated areas of the city, leading many to believe that it's not a pressing issue. While there may be other reasons not to change a name, it is shameful to pretend that names and symbols lack power. Not opening our eyes and examining these names and symbols is how we perpetuate the legacy of slavery, every day.

ERINN