Will Jaime Herrera Butler please stand up and be counted as someone who's paying attention to life as we now know it? She's been working on killing sea lions and strengthening maternal and infant legislation while Rome (our country) burns. She has said she will support the "Liar in Chief" for a second term of mayhem. To my knowledge, she has not spoken out on anything controversial or urgent since I moved to Ridgefield six years ago — except about the post office this week.
A Republican with a lucrative job who is keeping her head down, she's hoping against hope that her president will be re-elected. Nice that she supports job fairs — but in a political climate in which the Republicans are trying to limit liability for employers if their employees die of COVID-19?
The U.S. economy is in shambles and over a thousand Americans a day are dying of coronavirus, a disease that her president thought he could fight via magical thinking ("it won't happen here"). Voters, think hard about what Jaime has accomplished before you cast another vote for the familiar hometown incumbent with the eternal smile — who won't attend Vancouver town halls. Being used to her doesn't mean she should stay in the job. Maybe she woke up to reality this week with the dismantling of the post office to restrict voting.
I support Carolyn Long for Congress, a professor of political science who has more appreciation for what real people are up against than this insider. Jaime just sticks with the Trump crowd, in spite of the egregious acts some of them have committed, such as only letting the president talk to "yes-men and yes-women," or clearing a peaceful protest by police for a photo-op, or the president giving out incorrect advice about coronavirus. Paraphrasing what they used to say when I was younger and more idealistic, Jaime is part of the problem, not part of the solution to fixing the mess this country is in. Trump promised infrastructure and did nothing. Carolyn Long and the Democrats are ready to revive this economy and increase fairness. How many of you saw or remember when Trump announced to his very rich clientele at Mar-a-Lago, that they were all a whole lot richer following the passage of his tax cuts for the rich? Republicans are still trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, in spite of our being in the midst of a pandemic! Are we reduced to being "one nation under greed"?
If the very rich were paying more taxes, there would be more money available to help the poorest people get out of poverty, thus helping reinvigorate the economy. I am a practical Democrat who wants sensible and responsible help for our citizens and our nation — small business loans that actually go to small businesses. Aid distributed through employers, like in Europe, instead of red and blue state unemployment insurance game playing. Leaders with character. Vote for Carolyn Long and Joe Biden.
