Letters To The Editor Week Of 1/24/2022

Dark money
problem is
bi-partisan
To the editor: The Citizens United decision of January 2010 removed restrictions on election spending by corporations and political action committees, leading the way to unlimited and hidden money in elections and policy decisions. This decision led to 12 years of rampant political corruption. We in Ohio have experienced first-hand the dire consequences of enormous amounts of dark money in legislative campaigns and decisions.
A major change nationally since 2010, when Republicans dominated dark money spending, is that now it’s the Democrats. Democratic party dark money groups ― nonprofits that are not required to disclose their donors ― spent more than $514 million on the 2020 elections, twice as much as Republican party groups. Money in politics truly is a cross-partisan issue.
An alarming precedent in recent years also is the influence of foreign money on candidate and issue campaigns. The Citizens United decision did not reverse the ban on foreign money in elections, but it provided opportunities for foreign groups to funnel money secretly to elections through nonprofits and shell companies. Now ballot measures and federal, state, and local elections are at risk for foreign interference.
The solution to the big and dark money problem is a constitutional amendment passed by Congress and sent to the states to ratify. American Promise Ohio is working toward raising awareness for this amendment. We want to be “ready to ratify” when Congress acts. To achieve this, we need abundant grassroots support. Join our movement at americanpromise.net.
Ellen Greene Bush
American Promise Ohio
Port Clinton

Reform U.S.
wolf policy
To the editor: The recent news that 20 wolves from Yellowstone National Park have been killed by hunters and trappers is heartbreaking evidence of the need for the Biden Department of the Interior to finally act and protect these wolves as senators, members of congress, scientists, a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tribal leaders, and activists have been imploring it to do.
Hunters in Montana can sit just feet outside of Yellowstone National Park using bait and recorded calls to lure wolves out of the protected area to their deaths. In Montana, they can kill as many as 20 wolves each (10 by gun and 10 by trap). In Idaho, there is no limit.
The Biden Administration could have prevented this slaughter and must act before it gets worse.
In August, Dan Ashe (former director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service under President Obama) wrote a Washington Post Op-ed urging Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to act and issue emergency protections for gray wolves as permitted under the Endangered Species Act. Mr. Ashe outlined exactly
why she should act and under what authority.
To date, President Biden and Secretary Haaland have ignored the former USFWS Director and his pleas to act. He followed up in December with a letter signed by directors of zoos and aquariums in his role as CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This also has been ignored by Biden and Haaland.
We learned last year that Secretary Haaland has twice opted out of scheduled meetings with Tribal leaders seeking to speak with her in support of re- listing gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act and engaging in Tribal consultations before any future policy decisions are made.
Secretary Haaland and President Biden owe the country better. In her role as Secretary, Haaland is entrusted with the caretaking of our natural spaces and the species that live in them. She is not living
up to that mandate.
Please join me in writing to doi.gov and ask that Secretary Haaland finally act to stop this unsustainable killing of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies before it is too late. It took our nation decades to bring these wolves back. Idaho and Montana can destroy this progress in just months if the Biden Administration continues to ignore them.
Tim Lewandowski
Lake Twp.