Biden, Democrats should hold firm on covid relief

I appreciate the inclusion of conservative viewpoints in your opinion Commentary, but in a recent commentary (“Compromise still Biden’s best bet to win covid aid,” The Herald Jan. 26) author Michael Strain reworked the same old same old baseless complaints into his opinion piece.

1. Business does not need a “temporary liability shield” to protect it from workers who contracted coronavirus while in the workplace. Business is doing perfectly fine. It should be held responsible for its workplace hazards, i.e. OSHA, including forcing exposure that results in coronavirus infections. That’s its job.

2. After Trump’s tax cut for the rich further twisted the wealth curve in the U.S. and resulted in a ballooning stock market but no significant investment in infrastructure or jobs, when Biden’s plan will give rental assistance instead of delaying payment, help people in need, provide a national vaccination program and reopen schools, provide child-care providers support, and increase the federal minimum wage to an amount which is still less in actual income to when it was originally proposed, it’s funny how Biden’s plan to provide $1.9 trillion in support is “too much”

3. Since when is a $600 billion hole static? Why do we need a “bottoms-up” approach when we know where the money should go? Momentum is building against Biden’s plan because the opposing party is always against the president’s plan, not because there is a non-made-up problem with it. For example, common sense says state and local governments need the money to perform its functions, and because it is for the common good, the Biden plan includes this help. Why “barter it away” for a liability shield? That’s why voters have such a low opinion of their politicians in the first place.

Nope. The Democrats have proposed a balanced, workable plan that addresses the immediate needs of the country. Slow pokes like Mr. Strain are just obfuscating that need.

Fred L. Curry

Bothell