To the editor: The Pentagon is projected to spend a staggering $2.1 trillion on the F-35 fighter jet program. This weapons system has been suffering from value overruns, technical failures and delays. Many navy analysts now take into account the F-35 already out of date, a Chilly Struggle relic in a world dealing with very totally different threats.
But, the Trump administration has raised no considerations. In truth, it’s proposed growing the Pentagon’s finances by $150 billion this 12 months, funneling much more cash into machines of conflict.
Now distinction that with California’s high-speed rail challenge: a first-of-its-kind system within the U.S. that’s projected to create tens of 1000’s of jobs, stimulate billions in financial exercise and drastically scale back carbon emissions. As a substitute of supporting this imaginative and prescient of a cleaner, extra related America, the Trump administration has actively undermined it (“Trump administration sees ‘no viable path’ ahead to complete high-speed rail challenge, strikes to drag federal funding,” June 4).
It’s a backward imaginative and prescient: We pour trillions into fighter jets designed to kill, whereas blocking a transportation system designed to maneuver individuals, strengthen our economic system and defend our planet. Think about if we invested that $2.1 trillion right into a nationwide high-speed rail community, connecting main cities, revitalizing regional economies and main the world in sustainable infrastructure.
It’s time to rethink our priorities. The California high-speed rail challenge deserves extra assist, not much less.
Donald Flaherty, Burbank
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To the editor: The combat over high-speed rail is ridiculous. I simply returned from three weeks in Japan, a spot the place bullet trains run the size and breadth of the nation and strange trains that join with them go to locations the bullet trains don’t. When somebody needs to go from Tokyo to Kyoto, they don’t take into consideration flying or driving, they hop on a prepare. In comparison with Japan, it’s as if we’re within the Stone Age in terms of transportation. Plus, these trains run clear on electrical energy and don’t spew dangerous exhaust fumes.
Murray Zichlinsky, Lengthy Seaside
