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Our Opinion: Environmental stewards in NEPA deserve moment in the sun

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Luzerne County picks up more than 10,000 voters since primary election

<p>Blaming Donald Trump for everything is treating a symptom and not the disease.</p><p>Don&#8217;t forget his astonishing initial response, obtained by confirming the electorate&#8217;s worst fears. Yes, the system is rigged against you.</p><p>People didn&#8217;t have jobs &#8211; or if they did have one today, they worried they might not have one tomorrow. Drowning in bills, taxes, medical expenses and more, they were scared, angry and ready for someone who would, they thought, fight for them.</p><p>Our country will not be safe until lawmakers see the role they played in creating Trump&#8217;s success. They were shocked, because they were out of touch with the depth of people&#8217;s fears. They got lucky when Trump engaged in an orgy of self-destructive comments. </p><p>So busy fighting the Tea Party and committed to frustrating the president at every turn, they did not hear the screams of their people.</p><p>Even the president&#8217;s bill increasing funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&#8217;s public health response to the Zika epidemic was left until after their vacation. The bill they then crafted included defunding much of the Affordable Care Act &#8211; the &#8220;poison pill&#8221; that the president could not sign.</p><p>Until elected officials own up to the major role their deafness played in Trump&#8217;s early success, we are vulnerable to a slicker version of Trump doing terrible harm to our democracy.</p><p><strong>Dr. Harvey Weintraub</strong></p><p>Harveys Lake</p><style>
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Letter to the Editor: Out-of-touch lawmakers share blame for Donald Trump’s surge