Why is it always on us to fix the MTA finances? Staten Island: As a bus and subway rider, an automobile driver and retired NYC Transit Authority bus operator, I feel that I’m in a unique position to comment on congestion pricing. I’m not a fan of Rep. Mike Lawler, but I’m in concert with him when he says, “Congestion pricing is nothing more than a massive new tax on working families, daily commuters, college students and local residents who just want to travel within the city they call home, which amounts to fraud, abuse, and which is shameful.” I’ve seen firsthand how bloated with management personnel the MTA is, not to mention how over-the-top and exorbitant the salaries are of even entry-level positions such as bus operator and bus cleaner. Both are a result of contractual obligations that the MTA/NYCTA have given to employees over the years. Then there’s the totally insane pet projects MTA Chairman Janno Lieber has tried to install since his appointment. These consist of new turnstiles to thwart fare-beaters rather than putting plainclothes cops on trains and buses. After all, the MTA/NYCTA has admitted to losing more than $700 million in 2023 to fare-beaters. Yet they did practically nothing to write out summonses to the miscreants who refuse to pay. The comedy of Lieber and his cronies goes on and on. He’s even suggested cost-prohibitive glass partitions on subway stations that would prevent people from being pushed on subway tracks. Now the MTA comes to the average citizen to fund its mismanagement, acquiescence to the demands of its workers for higher pay, and finally, these idiotic projects that keep getting shelved in favor of even more foolhardy plans. Dennis Pascale Suit ’em up East Garden City, L.I.: Gov. Hochul has declared she has ordered to put a cop on every overnight subway train. What she should do is deem an order that all police, prison guards, court officers, etc. must wear their uniforms while traveling on public transportation to and from work. John Giglio Left out Brooklyn: Re “Call her Gov. ‘Affordability,’ ” (Jan. 15): Key themes in the State of the State Address were health and affordability. But largely missing from the governor’s policy plans is attention to climate change, which is increasingly harming the health of New Yorkers in direct ways and driving up the cost of living through higher utility rates and homeowners’ insurance rates. Low-hanging fruit for the governor on these issues is the NY HEAT Act, which requires that utilities set rates affordably so that no family pays more than 6% of their household income on energy utility bills. It also ends the requirement that utility ratepayers subsidize the creation of fossil fuel infrastructure (the 100-foot rule) to be used by the utilities. The NY HEAT Act is an easy win for the governor and a way for her to demonstrate true leadership on both cost-of-living issues and climate. Bill Haddican Issue ignored Brooklyn: Hochul’s affordability agenda is incomplete without tackling the greedy fossil fuel corporations driving up energy prices and polluting the planet while reaping record profits. As California burns and Donald Trump, with his reckless “drill, baby, drill” mantra, is poised to reoccupy the White House, New York must lead the way in fighting climate change and ensuring an affordable green energy transition. Unfortunately, Hochul failed to back the climate policies we need. Abandon costly and dangerous nuclear power schemes and champion legislation like the NY HEAT Act that will lower energy bills while moving New York off fossil fuels. Eric Weltman Our ally? Woodside: The Vietnam War had 58,479 Americans dead. The Israelis have about 2,000 dead. Some are Americans. Why is the Israeli war getting so much more coverage? Oh, Israel did not have any military in Vietnam to help us. Richard Tobiassen Equal by law Manhattan: At a time when courts and legislators are actively dismantling hard-won rights for women and LGBTQ Americans, President Biden has the authority and moral imperative to act before he leaves office to finally make the Equal Rights Amendment part of the U.S. Constitution. Eastern European Jewish immigrants fleeing autocracy seeking democratic freedoms founded the Workers Circle 125 years ago. Having experienced the brutal costs of inequality, they committed themselves to fighting for the rights of all people. Among our founders were thousands of women who transformed American labor, fighting for equal pay, workplace safety and benefits equal to their male colleagues. These same members helped drive the suffrage movement, leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1921. Two years later, in 1923, the Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed in Congress. It is unconscionable that this fundamental right remains unrealized. Ann Toback, CEO, The Workers Circle New low Long Beach, L.I.: Richard Nixon was replaced by Biden as the worst president. He and top members of his administration lied, cheated and did more harm to our country than Nixon. Arlene Reilly Swamp creatures Scarsdale, N.Y.: President-elect Trump talked about cleaning up the swamp in government politics. Then he goes ahead and nominates Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of health and human services, and Pete Hegseth for defense secretary. It appears he’s not cleansing the swamp but polluting it. Harvey Wielstein Double meaning Hewitt, N.J.: Americans are days away from a convicted felon being sworn in as president of our precious U.S.A. Ironically and rightly so, our flags will be flown at half-staff in honor of our former President Jimmy Carter, an outstanding man of impeccable character. Thanks for the celestial salute, J.C. Perfect timing! Elaine Young Get like you give Brooklyn: Once again, baby Don the whiner gets his way. Flags are at half-staff for 30 days to mourn the passing of President Jimmy Carter. On his Inauguration Day, baby Don says, “Nobody wants to see that.” I think he and only he doesn’t want to see that. I hope that when it’s his turn, somebody objects to our nation’s flags being at half-staff. Andrea Allen Violation of tradition Jefferson City, Tenn.: I am a U.S. Marine veteran. I was too young to vote for Carter in 1976 and I didn’t vote for him in 1980 by choice. But he was still our commander in chief for four years and deserves to have every U.S. flag at half-staff/mast for the full 30 days as prescribed by law. House Speaker Mike Johnson has once again shown that his loyalty is to Donald Trump, a man without morals, and not the country. To Trump: Show some respect to someone other than yourself. Sean M. Talty Return the favor Flushing: If Trump and Trumpers did not make a big thing out of not flying the flag half-staff on Inauguration Day, no one would give this a second thought or begrudge Trump celebrating his special day. In less polarizing times, no one would really care. Actually, for a lengthy period of time, Carter and Trump got along pretty well, but Trump being Trump alienates anyone when he does not get his way. I simply suggest that when Trump departs for hell, with Jimmy smiling from heaven, whoever is president or is in charge of Congress should not fly the flag half-staff anywhere. In the end, hopefully, the last laugh will be at Trump’s expense. Philip Schoenberg Environmental legacy Manhattan: As multiple leaders and historians eulogized Carter, most focused on his foreign policy successes and failures, especially in the Middle East. But as Californians confront horrendous fires, Carter’s domestic legacy is proving his strong vision. In 1979, building upon the New Deal’s Federal Emergency Relief Agency, Carter created the more efficient and better-structured Federal Emergency Management Agency. He consolidated existing disaster recovery and financing programs while mandating that this national support system only intervenes at the request of state government or a federally recognized tribal government. FEMA, moreover, closely partners with local institutions. County, city and even state authorities in California often failed in prevention, extinguishing and containment of relentless fires fueled by global warming, poor planning and bad execution, alongside shortage of staff, equipment and distribution infrastructure. Seeing how federal capacity interfaced with local powers, magnifying the United State’s concerted response to a calamity, America owes gratitude to Carter. Itai Sneh Lyrics we live by Staten Island: “The masters make the rules / For the wise men and the fools / I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.” — Bob Dylan. Marc Gold