I am a huge fan of vote by mail that we enjoy. It is convenient, secure and verifiable. Second, the America First movement started as an isolationist movement that had close ties to Germany before the United States entered WWII. For these reasons, I can eliminate Joe Kent from my consideration.
Ms. Jaime Herrera Beutler ran ads touting her ability to affect local crime prevention and support for law enforcement. She was running for national office and had no ability to have an impact. She also promised help with gas prices. Since oil companies set gas prices, that too was beyond the scope of her position. It is ironic to me that she also ran an ad promising to bring relief to a young male with diabetes by promising to help bring down the cost of insulin.
What happened was the Democrats passed legislation without the help of Republicans to cap the price for insulin for those on Medicare at $35 per month. The part of the bill that capped the cost for the rest of us was killed by, you guessed it, the Republicans. If you know the history of insulin, the developers sold the patent to Eli Lilly for $1 with the condition that they sell the drug at a price within reach of everyone.
As someone previously noted, the Republicans have promised to review and adjust Medicare and Social Security. I think the longtime objective of the Republicans to privatize both Medicare and Social Security is both dangerous and irresponsible.
We have been a mixed economy for a long time. By that, I mean a mixture of socialism and capitalism. Both have their good points and bad points. As an example, one of the COVID-19 vaccine makers is currently running ads on TV encouraging consumers to get their booster shots using their vaccine. They can afford to run these ads because we, as a country, are paying for all COVID-19 vaccinations.
In other words, taxpayers are subsidizing drug manufacturers to the point that Moderna is using capitalist forces to outdo Pfizer in the quest for a larger share of vaccinations that we pay for. And remembering that only two countries in the world allow pharmaceutical advertising, I know the first question my doctors ask of me is if I have seen any drug ads on TV that I think I need to try.
During election season, I have noted the blatant use of racism in dark money ads run by groups like the Congressional Leadership Fund. There is no transparency to identify the funders of this group. This allows them to say outrageous things, including obvious racist content, without accountability. We should be beyond Willie Horton by now, but obviously it is still a potent message for some.
Gerald Pittman,
Ridgefield
