I am an independent and an unabashed conservative. I wanted to find out about the Republican candidates for House of Representatives in the 2nd District, where I live. What a process.
Steve Negron’s website is protected by “reCaptcha.” You’ve got to go through an anti-spamming puzzle to open it. I didn’t believe what I was seeing. I tried it twice. I am a constituent. I am not a “spammer.” And, if one or two who access Negron’s website happen to be “spammers,” so be it. I live in Negron’s district and I want to find out why I should vote for him. His constituents ought to be able to find out about him online quickly and conveniently. I think I’ll pass on his candidacy.
The website of Lynne Blankenbeker is open and available. Unfortunately, there is little concrete information about how she’d carry out the priorities she claims to espouse. She claims that she supports President Donald Trump. OK. However, she does say that she’ll be “a voice for all Americans who are tired of the Congressional failure and dysfunction.” That sounds like the typical “let’s go along to get along/let’s work across the aisle” politician. That doesn’t sound like a conservative with a strong, unswerving set of ideas, goals and principles. I’ll most likely pass on her candidacy, too.
In the 2018 primary and general election, I wrote in “None” on the House of Representative line because I didn’t believe that the Republican candidate represented my perspectives. I guess I’ll have to do it again in 2020.
ALAN TANENBAUM
Grantham
Why should a mere one-tenth of 1% of the U.S. population control a disproportionate 20% of the wealth? (“Confronting America’s ‘oligarchic drift’: Warren, Sanders pitch wealth tax to address growing income inequality,” Oct. 6). Economic inequality continually siphons off the power from the working stiffs and redistributes it to the moneyed elite. Those powerful billionaires and corporate entities want to stay this dangerous course, even though current evidence points to the corruption of our government. So much for your representative democracy, so much for your Green New Deal — which could otherwise save Mother Earth from assured natural calamity and rescue the economy.
I paraphrase Naomi Klein (see her new book On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal): Four decades of privatization, deregulation, free trade and austerity have culminated in our regressive government. How? She points to the climate crisis as evidence that we can not proceed as usual if we want an inhabitable planet. “So now we really do have to take radical action” she says. She then argues that we need big investments in green infrastructure and a justice-based transition away from a fossil fuel economy to a “green” one — not just solar arrays and turbine work, but by bolstering the indispensable, already low-carbon careers such as teaching and health care. And don’t forget the need to take the ownership, maintenance and profits of energy grids from private companies and leave them to the communities they serve.
The tricky part will be making the switch. I’m heartened by the Oct. 11 front-page article “Towns tackle energy goals: Hartford, Norwich declare emergencies to spur action.” That’s a good start, but there is a great deal of ground to cover in and around White River Junction and Norwich, for example. I urge you all to read Klein’s book and connect with your representatives to let them know that life beyond peak oil is important to you.
Bring on that Green New Deal.
KEVIN McEVOY LEVERET
White River Junction