Sullivan, Young are making America’s problems worse

Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young are proud of their total support for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Neither has called Trump out on his continuing chant that COVID-19 is going away, like a flu — that one day, like a miracle, it will disappear. The COVID-19 pandemic is now called the greatest threat to prosperity and well-being the U.S. has encountered since the Great Depression, with an estimated impact of more than $16 trillion to the U.S. economy.

Sullivan and Young only voice opposition when it becomes an Alaska issue, such as support for the Postal Service. Trump made his opinion on the USPS known months ago, but Young and Sullivan only voiced opposition last month, knowing Trump would not change his long-held scorn of the USPS. Young called COVID-19 a “beer virus” while he strolled unprotected through people living in a senior center. Pebble’s CEO labeled Sullivan as hiding “in the corner” and said he would not stand in the way of Pebble Mine after receiving $34,000 in campaign funding.

Sullivan missed 3.1% of roll-call votes. This is worse than the median of 1.8% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. Young missed 14.1% of roll-call votes. This is much worse than the median of 2.3% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. Alaska’s elected officials should have a better voting record, not much worse than the median roll call vote.

Both totally support Trump’s position on the working person.  After passage of Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, America’s richest billionaires paid 23% or a lower effective tax rate than 50% of American households which was 24.2%.  The tax rate for most American has changed little since 1960. Trump repeatedly stated this bill would not benefit the rich.

Disparities in wages and salaries are huge. By one estimate, the typical CEO in 2017 made 347 times the salary of the average American worker, compared only 20 times as much 50 years ago. In other words, in 2017, the typical CEO earns more money during two 15-minute snack breaks per day for a year than the average American worker working 40 hours a week for 20 years, or half of his/her career.

Trump continues to take actions to give himself, his cronies and the super-wealthy more money at the expense of the average American worker.

Roughly 22 million Americans lost their jobs during the coronavirus shutdowns. With millions of Americans still facing economic uncertainty, Trump and his Republicans, Sullivan among them, are focused on appointing a judge noted for her extremist views to the Supreme Court instead of helping Americans and their children have food to eat, a safe and warm place to stay, and clothing and medicine to survive.

With poverty and unemployment on the rise in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of fighting for working people, Trump and the Republican Party are continuing to attack the rights and wages of the American worker.

The Trump administration just introduced a proposed rule that would make it easier for employers to classify workers as independent contractors, cheating their workers of wage and benefit protections. It would absolve employers from paying Social Security and Medicare taxes, which help ensure workers have a secure minimum retirement and medical insurance. Trump wants to turn back the clock to a time when employers could pay sub-minimum wages, avoid overtime pay, and avoid paying unemployment benefits.

Trump, his administration and his congressional cronies has consistently sided with big business over working people.

Trump promised that he would reduce the cost of medicine paid by Americans. In July 2020, Trump claimed prices of medicine came down “50, 60 even 70 percent.” However, in July 2020, 67 drugs increased in cost by an average of 3.1%, according to GoodRx, an online prescription cost service. More than 850 brand-name and generic drugs increased in price by an average of 6.8% in the first six months of 2020. In a new analysis, GoodRx found drug prices are surging faster than any other medical service or good, increasing by 33 percent since 2014.

By hiding in the corner, Sullivan and Young totally support Trump’s actions to make big business richer at the expense of a living wage for the working people of our nation.

Please vote.

Terry Hassett has been a resident of Anchorage since 1975; he retired in 2006.

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