Dallas’ convention center demand
Re: “$3 billion convention center a gamble — Dallas is rolling the dice on a downtown colossus based on the speculative economic impact of a fading industry,” by Mark Lamster, Sunday Arts & Life.
Lamster mischaracterizes a strategic and necessary investment in our city’s future. Convention organizers want to come to Dallas. DFW International Airport places us within a four-hour flight of every major U.S. city, making us conveniently located and a hub for national events.
Our outdated convention center is holding us back — costing us business, jobs and economic growth. The new center addresses this challenge directly and is already delivering results: 64 conventions are committed, representing $1.66 billion in projected economic impact, with many more pending. This isn’t theoretical — it’s real demand, and Dallas is ready to meet it.
The project is funded through a dedicated hotel occupancy tax and restricted tourism-related infrastructure dollars that cannot legally be repurposed for unrelated needs. We would rather see them invested in Dallas than lost to Austin or Houston, which are aggressively modernizing their convention offerings.
This is not a gamble. It is a forward-looking investment that secures Dallas’ place as a premier destination for decades to come.
Craig Davis, president and CEO, Visit Dallas
for Pfaff in Irving
As an involved Irving resident since 1975, I am ing David Pfaff for the Irving City Council Place 2 at-large runoff on June 7. Pfaff has quietly built a legacy of service that has benefited all of Irving. He has served on city boards and donated generously to Irving’s first homeless teen shelter, the Baylor Scott & White-Irving Foundation, various arts organizations, DFW Humane Society and the Irving Schools Foundation, which his mother established.
Along with his family, Pfaff attends citywide events and has voted in every local election since he legally could. He ran a successful international semiconductor company that generated jobs along with payroll, sales and taxes for the city.
He has managed complex budgets, worked collaboratively with his teams and has demonstrated himself to be a servant leader in every aspect of his life. His opponent, according to his website, has coached youth teams and is an IT consultant. The choice is clear for this runoff. Choose someone who has shown up for Irving his whole life. Choose David Pfaff.
Patty Caperton, Irving
Talk about adjusted gross income
Re: “The One-Percenters,” by Kye Kastrop, Wednesday Letters.
Kastrop posits the rich pay more than their share of taxes, with a few omissions. The IRS data cited refers to individual, not corporate taxes. And it is not tied to wealth or total income, but rather to that final line of adjusted gross income.
Yes, the earned income tax on AGI is progressive. Those reporting higher AGI pay higher-percent taxes, ignoring payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, gas taxes, etc.
The endless debate about fair share is not just about earnings reported to the IRS as part of AGI. Donald Trump, in justifying years of paying no taxes himself based on low AGI, suggested only idiots pay taxes.
Finally, the claim that total tax revenues rose each year after tax cuts is incorrect. Following the 2017 tax cuts, revenues declined as debt rose in 2018, only increasing after 2020. But good luck disentangling the effects of the 2017 tax bill from the trillions of pandemic and Biden istration stimulus dollars pushed out since.
Bill Luthans, Dallas/Lake Highlands
Talk about net worth
Kastrop uses various statistics to justify tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% of taxpayers compared with the bottom 50%. One statistic that he didn’t mention was net worth.
The total net worth of the top 1% is almost $50 trillion. That of the bottom 50% is between $2 trillion and $4 trillion.
Frank Goley, Irving
The argument for Taiwan
Re: “Crimea matters for Gaza and Taiwan — Legitimizing Russia’s occupation, as Trump suggests, would have global consequences,“ by Paul F. Diehl, Tuesday Opinion.
Pattern recognition may be one of humanity’s great powers, but it’s of limited use when comparing Taiwan’s situation to other geopolitical issues.
The most obvious reason why Taiwan is unlike Crimea or Gaza is that Taiwan isn’t physically connected to the country making claims to it. Further, while the current istration seems ready to legitimize Russia’s claims to Crimea, Taiwan has enjoyed rock-solid, bipartisan since Congress ed the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.
Add in that Taiwan is the ninth-largest trade partner of the U.S. (neither Ukraine nor Palestine cracks the top 30) and that Taiwanese companies are actively building billions of dollars worth of semiconductor and similar technology factories in Texas and Arizona, and the differences become even more stark.
U.S.-Taiwan relations are a whole different ballgame, and Taiwan deserves to be discussed on its own .
Lauren Williams, Houston
Rainier Houston
Re: “More than one water solution,” by Amy Martin, Wednesday Letters.
I think Martin is comparing apples to oranges when she cites water usage in Houston and Dallas. Dallas averages 39 inches of rain a year. Houston averages 53 inches. Houston doesn’t have as much need for water.
I’m not saying Dallas couldn’t conserve more water; I’m simply saying the comparison isn’t fair.
Judy Pelowski, Red Oak
Spoils of war
Israel announced that Hamas armed-wing leader Mohammed Sinwar had been killed. Previously, his relative military leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed. It is widely reported that both Sinwar gentlemen had amassed many millions of dollars in personal wealth, mostly siphoned from international aid directed toward the citizens of Gaza. We’re talking mega mansions in Qatar and all sorts of goodies.
Will these revelations induce Harvard University students, chanting “We Are Hamas,” to stop and think? Nope.
To paraphrase the immortal John Wayne: “Pilgrim, you crossed the line, and there’s no goin’ back.”
Kenneth K. Ebmeier, Round Rock