Readers sound off on Ukraine's fight, trade war results and seniors' car insurance

Yahoo

08-03-2025

Olivebridge, N.Y.: I start with the premise that Russia is our enemy. The Russians have frequently taken actions to oppose us and undermine us. And while we can debate specifics, what is not debatable is that the Russian Federation has more than 1,000 intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads aimed at us with the ability to strike us within 30 minutes of launch (see the START Treaty). I would classify that as an enemy.
Over the past three years, the Ukrainian people have been fighting a desperate battle against incredible odds against an invading Russian military. This war has weakened Russia, killing thousands of its soldiers and destroying much of its military equipment. The war diverted investment from its plans to obliterate the United States.
It's an old adage that the enemy of your enemy is your friend. The Feb. 28 meeting in the White House between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was no way for Trump to treat a friend. More importantly, Trump should be thanking Zelenskyy. The irony of that meeting is that the president of Ukraine has battled this invasion fearlessly for three years. By any standard, Zelenskyy is a warrior and a hero, and he is being insulted by Trump — who has never seen real war and who avoided military service.
Trump, on the issue of the Ukraine war, clearly signals his support for Vladimir Putin, a tyrant who leads a country with more than 1,000 ICBMs aimed at America. Warren Davis
Brooklyn: I was wondering whether any of our elected representatives were as embarrassed as I was regarding the public bullying of Zelenskyy by the president and vice president during their meeting to discuss a peace deal to end the war with Russia. What kind of message does it send to our allies throughout the world when our leadership sets out to humiliate a democratically elected friend of our country to appease a ruthless dictator who has invaded and decimated his country? Haven't Zelenskyy and Ukraine suffered enough throughout this brutal and senseless war? Donald Kempler
Bronx: Eric Trump and Don Trump Jr. are on record stating that they are working with Russian bankers. Isn't that a good reason to be nice to Putin? Has anyone in the mainstream media asked that question? Virgilio Carballo
Brooklyn: Everyone is up in arms about everything the president and his team are doing, I think mostly because people are afraid of change. They're used to being screwed by politicians and would rather leave things as they were, but we elected Trump and his team because we need to change or America will be bankrupt, if we're not already. We're living on borrowed money. Nothing has worked in all the years past. Let's rally around Americans' new bullish attitude. Stop being complacent. God bless America. Joe Many
Toronto: If the U.S.-Canada trade war gets ugly, what will be the impact on consumer goods prices if Canada were to withhold sending potash and/or oil to the U.S.A.? Potash is an integral input to agriculture production (no potash and yields immediately fall precipitously) and Canada supplies 80% of America's needs. Oil is an integral input to almost everything consumers buy or experience, and Canada supplies 60% of America's crude oil imports. Even without the tit-for-tat tariff increases that are possible, at 25% tariffs for potash and oil, does anyone think consumer prices for anything will decrease anytime soon? Going up, anyone? Peter Earle
Kew Gardens: When nations impose tariffs and get into trade wars, consumers bear the brunt via higher prices. The best strategy Americans can do to protect themselves and their families is to leave their credit cards at home in a safe place and defer all discretionary spending. No one else is going to pay off your bloated credit card balances or bank loans but you. Also, expect your household budgets to be strained by increases in the costs of necessities, so be frugal with that spending also. These trying times will pass. Those who protect themselves and their families by being smart economically will fare better than those who don't. Glenn Hayes
Middle Village: On a lighter note, let's raise a glass to June Lockhart, Lee Grant and Dick Van Dyke, who turn 100 years young this year. God bless! Robert Chirieleison
Atlanta: Many of today's Palestinians descend from families that moved to Palestine only after Zionist activity had raised the area's living standards. Many began leaving the area as Arab leaders began preparing for war. Although Arab armies did not succeed in preventing Israel's rebirth in the Jews' ancestral homeland, Arab-initiated violence produced two refugee groups. Between 400,000 and 700,000 Arabs left Palestine and found themselves and their descendants stuck in refugee limbo. They've been told that Israel will someday be forced to take them in. That's unlikely, as the 'refugees' have grown up seeing Palestinians honored and rewarded for killing Jews. The other refugee group consisted of Mizrahi Jews, driven from Muslim countries of the Middle East and North Africa. In the three decades following 1948, Israel absorbed and uplifted 800,000 of them. Arab nations, with vast landholdings and (some with) oil riches, certainly should have done the same for the 'Palestine refugees.' Toby F. Block
Peekskill, N.Y.: Contrary to a slipshod assumption made by the Wednesday Daily News editorial ('What sanctuary means,' March 5), there is no 'treatment' for measles. Moreover, children face far greater risks from an 'ouchie Fauci' than they do from measles. What's the current toll of jabbed U.S. interscholastic athletes dead from myocarditis? Does anybody at The News know or are you simply interested in gaslighting the public and diminishing RFK Jr.? Child has measles? Do what Bobby Jr. did and what I and we all did prior to the MMR vaccine: two days home from school watching 'Leave It to Beaver' and 'F Troop' reruns will do the trick! Joe Schatzle
Brooklyn: Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and many of her Republican colleagues have vowed to not allow any reductions to Medicaid, which means they have promised they will not support any indirect efforts to reduce Medicaid funding, such as: imposing per capita spending caps; reducing the 50% floor in the percentage of costs covered by the federal government (which would disproportionately impact states like New York and New Jersey); reducing the Affordable Care Act expansion reimbursement rate (another disproportionate impact); reducing payments to hospitals to offset uncompensated costs; lowering medical care standards; lowering nursing home staffing requirements; placing limits on provider reimbursement rates (further reducing doctors who treat Medicaid patients); and reducing benefits to the disabled, who account for 30% of Medicaid costs. Medicaid is administered by states, which are reimbursed by the federal government. Hence, many of the above items represent back-door strategies for reducing Medicaid funding, as the burden is simply shifted to states. Gregory Reiser
Brooklyn: New York is one of 12 states that mandate no-fault personal injury protection coverage. Other states make it optional. Seniors with Medicare A and B already pay part B premiums, but licensed N.Y. senior drivers must also pay a PIP premium for $50,000 coverage. Without PIP coverage, Medicare would cover the same medical expenses as PIP from the ground up instead of being secondary coverage under current law. PIP's loss-of-income coverage is generally unnecessary for seniors who don't work and have Social Security benefits. With optional rather than mandated coverage, seniors could decide for themselves instead of paying premiums for coverage they don't need. N.Y. legislators need to act on this. Brooks White
Carle Place, L.I.: In the old days, when a hydrant was blocked by a car, firefighters would just break the windows of the car and snake the hose through. Let's get back to this. Maybe entitled, arrogant drivers would think twice about where they park. Two people died, possibly due to her actions ('$4K fine for blocking hydrant,' March 1). Rudy Rosenberg
Manhattan: Re 'Kardashian's a supersized latex legend in Times Sq.' (March 5): It has been a very cold winter in New York. Times Square has just started to steam up. Alan Lehrer