Letter to the Editor: False Claims about Democratic ‘Programs’

Before writing his letter, “The Mislabeled Programs Hatched by Democrats,” published in the March 19-26 edition of the Pulse, Mr. Jerome J. Gallagher should have done some basic research. 

To start with, his unsupported claim that daylight saving time (DST) is a program “hatched by Democrats” is historically inaccurate. DST in the U.S. was introduced as part of the Standard Time Act of 1918, which was a wartime measure. That bill was introduced to the Senate by Sen. William Calder, a Republican representing New York, in April 1917. It was passed in the Senate and House with strong bipartisan support in March 1918. After the daylight-saving-time provision of the bill was repealed in 1919, DST continued to be observed by some cities and localities, including New York City, Denver and parts of Indiana. 

During World War II, a year-round daylight saving time was implemented with the aim of conserving energy. In 1966, the Uniform Time Act provided for a nationwide DST period of six months, but individual states could opt out of it, as Arizona and Hawaii did. In 1986, the law was amended to change the starting date, and in 2005, the Energy Policy Act extended DST by several weeks to the dates we have now. 

In March this year, a bipartisan group of legislators, including Sens. Rubio (R-Fla.), Scott (R-Fla.), Wyden (D-Ore.) and Markey (D-Mass.), reintroduced a bill called the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time year-round across the U.S. Given its long and complex history, it is ridiculous to describe DST as either a “Democratic” or “Republican” initiative or law. 

Secondly, Mr. Gallagher’s claim that “no evidence of widespread [voter] fraud” is another Democratic “program” is puzzling when this is exactly what numerous federal and state courts all across the nation determined to be the case after the election. 

The same conclusion was reached by Attorney General William Barr, a staunch Republican, who reportedly told Trump that the claims of widespread voter fraud were “bull****” and that his legal team pushing those claims was “clownish.”

Nicholas Hilmers

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin