2 weeks Ago
Tuition waiverRe “Keeping our promises” (Our Views, April 22): The Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program tuition waiver is in place for all eligible survivors and dependents of our military heroes, by law. Our veterans earned this waiver through their courage and sacrifice on behalf of our country, and our colleges and universities must honor it. The governor signed multiple appropriations bills last year that, for the first time in the program’s history, included taxpayer dollars to offset the cost of the program to colleges and universities, a total of $130 million for the current budget.
Under Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration, Virginia has only strengthened its position as the best state in America for our veterans to live, work and raise a family. On day one, the governor went to work to offer a major tax cut that eliminated the tax on military retirement income up to $40,000.
Since 2022, this has returned more than $782.9 million to Virginia’s military retirees. When combined with other tax relief provided to all Virginians, including the increase in the standard deduction and the elimination of the state grocery tax, this translates to more than $12,000 for a typical family.
The Tuesday editorial may leave many with the incorrect impression that the waiver will go away if funding “runs out.” This is not true, but sustainable funding should be pursued to protect the benefit in the future. The governor is disappointed that House and Senate Democrats rejected his commonsense solution to provide an ongoing funding source for the program using non-general fund dollars, but his entire administration will continue to fight alongside our military heroes and their families for this program.
Craig C. Crenshaw, USMC, ret., Virginia secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, RichmondLast dayPope Francis died the morning after Easter Sunday, a day where he shared his blessing and his presence with many thousands of devoted congregants.
May we all spend our last day doing something that gives us powerful pleasure and gives others joy and serenity.G.M.
Bass, WilliamsburgU.S. jobsPresident Donald Trump claims the main reason he is embracing his drastic and chaotic use of tariffs is to encourage businesses to keep their manufacturing in the United States.
He says lots of wonderful businesses will then employ more American workers.However, I doubt Trump is really that concerned about American jobs. His cozying up to the tech company billionaires tells another story.
These tech billionaires basically helped buy the election because they knew Trump would remove any guardrails related to regulation and government oversight of their industries. They wanted an unfettered path to unleashing their profit-driven vision of a post-human artificial intelligence dependent workforce. Add to this the conflict of interest that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team are facilitating by eliminating government oversight and regulatory agencies in their purge.
His own businesses and those of other tech titans will profit from this deregulation and the redirecting of some of the work done by government entities to their own companies.By Trump unleashing his tech billionaire sponsors and freeing them from government oversight — unregulated AI will soon take millions of jobs away from everyday people — and manufacturing jobs will be the first to go. So most of those wonderful American jobs promised will be done by AI-driven automation and not people.
The Department of Government Efficiency will be very efficient in making the tech titan elites wealthier while the average American worker will suffer. American wealth will trickle up — not down. To quote a phrase our leader likes to use a lot — “It’s a scam.
”Paul Kotarides, NorfolkSign up for Viewpoints, an opinion newsletter.
