Bernie Sanders as an independent
I endorse and support Sen. Bernie Sanders as an independent for president. I know that this will make establishment Democrats upset. The Democratic Party establishment and the Democratic National Committee did their job to knock Bernie out of the race. The rigged primaries, the lack of voting polls, the long lines to vote, and broken voting machines all worked against Bernie. There was nothing democratic about the Democratic primaries. There is nothing democratic about the Republican primaries either. Under this corrupt election system, it is impossible for a candidate like Bernie or other truly grassroots candidates to win an establishment party nomination. The only way Bernie or other truly grassroots candidates can win a presidential nomination would be as an independent.
Today, Sen. Sanders would be the projected nominee of an independent voter convention. The independent voter movement will not allow candidates to run for president or any other office if they have super PACs and Wall Street donors. They can only be grassroots candidates with small individual donors.
Don’t give up on Bernie yet. His agenda of Medicare-for-all, paid sick leave, student debt-relief, and many other benefits are closer to a reality due to Bernie. If Biden does not pick Bernie as a running mate, he will lose to Trump. It is Bernie’s ideas that will carry the Democrats to victory in November. Americans need Medicare-for-all more than ever due to COVID-19. If Biden does not endorse MFA, then Biden is doing a great disservice to the American people.
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Bernie supporters need to nominate Bernie as an independent for president right now. I believe that the 30 million independents who were denied voting in the 2020 primary elections by the Democratic and Republican Parties would support this nomination. Remember, 46% of the registered voters in America are independents. This potential means that Bernie could defeat both Biden and Trump in November. If you want a democracy, fight for Bernie.
Randy Fricke
Western Colorado Independent Voters
New Castle
Let’s save the little guy
If it were up to me, the big corporations wouldn’t get one dime of the $2.2 trillion federal coronavirus relief fund. They have enough of a cushion with offshore bank accounts and such to survive the current downturn.
We can’t trust the megacorporations to pass their billions on to their laid-off workers. The proletariat will need to get direct payments from the government. Wall Street will probably turn the windfall into a slush fund to buy back stock or give raises to executives already making seven figure salaries.
Neither should we put any faith in President Trump or his Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who appears to be in charge of monitoring the $500 billion to go to the corporations. Mnuchin was a hedge fund manager known for investing borrowed money and charging high fees for not so high returns.
Trump recently fired longtime Inspector General Glenn Fine, who would’ve administered the relief fund. Fine was more likely to see that the payouts were given the transparency, oversight and accountability Congress called for and Trump doesn’t wanna see.
Who needs the help are the small businesses. Owned by locals, they know who you are, what you need, want and can afford. If the ma and pa stores and restaurants don’t bring in some cash soon, they’ll go under, and we’ll be stuck with the franchises and big box stores.
The $350 billion in forgivable loans for small businesses in the relief package is spread very thin when you consider there’re 30 million businesses with 500 employees or less comprising 99.9% of all business in this country. And there’s considerable doubt whether the funds will arrive in time to save the small fry.
Let’s be good libertarians and not depend on the government. Let’s patronize these enterprises, if they’re open, and, if you have any income at all, slip ’em a little extra when you pay.
Fred Malo Jr.
Carbondale
Who should get the COVID-19 vaccine?
When I was 4 years old there was a polio epidemic infecting many children and putting some in iron lungs. The first vaccine came out two years later. I lined up with my first-grade classmates to get it. In subsequent years all children got the booster shots too at school. I don’t think we paid for it.
Vaccinations for diseases that cause serious disease, death or paralysis need to be available to all people. Who will distribute and pay for the COVID-19 vaccine that so many researchers are now working to develop? Will this be a big Pharma hey day with outrageous charges so only the wealthy get protected?
Or will the governments around the world work with the World Health Organization to make the vaccination free or low cost worldwide paid for by national governments who see the wisdom in putting health first to protect people and economies?
This is an issue that needs to be discussed and resolved now, so that when the vaccine is ready everyone can get it. In this case, who gets it first? Who is most at risk? This needs to be decided by doctors and epidemiologists, not by politicians.
Politicians need to be guided by physicians to make the best public health decisions possible on behalf of everyone. Health care should not be a political football. Health care should not be controlled by for-profit corporations where each procedure fills the pockets of overpaid CEOs. Our current private, expensive health insurance system results in more people of color deaths because not all can access life-long care.
Public health policy needs to be made and carried out for the welfare of all people by knowledgeable doctors and epidemiologists. Once the U.S. moves to a single payer health care system that serves all people regardless of their financial status we will have health care access and equity.
Then we can all line up for our vaccines 6 feet apart with masks on and say thank you.
Illene Pevec
Carbondale
