Starting in 2021, Medicare will be able to negotiate with drug companies to lower prescription drug costs. The deductible will be capped at $2,000 and the monthly cost of insulin will be capped at $35. This election year, support Democrats because members of the House Republican Investigative Committee are planning to strip Medicare of that authority. Another Republican committee plan is to cut Medicare benefits by turning it into a voucher system and return the power to deny coverage to private health insurers (whitehouse.gov Fact Sheet, March 21, 2024).
If you believe in affordable health care, vote Democrat in November.
As a resident of The Dalles, I was very concerned when I read in the Columbia Gorge News about a company that has purchased property from the Port of The Dalles. Their purpose is to “suck CO2 out of the air and get rid of it.” They “will capture 500 tons of CO2 per year. Next project: 5,000 tons. And future hopes: 20,000 tons of CO2 per year.”
Climate change and carbon control are nothing but a hoax! We learned in elementary school that carbon dioxide is good. It is necessary for plant and animal life on Earth.
Watch out! The two most important things trees and plants need to survive and produce our life-saving oxygen are CO2 and sunlight. I’m shocked that this was approved without the involvement of us oxygen breathers!
Editor’s note: “Every year, human activities release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than natural processes can remove, increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere” (www.climate.gov).
Two old men in a verbal sparring match on national television is the result of 66% of eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 30 not voting in the 2024 primaries. Joe Biden is clearly past his prime. Donald Trump remains stuck in his youth. Biden did not take Samuel Clemens’ advice not to argue with an idiot – viewers can’t tell the difference. In 2024, it’s a binary choice: Vote for Donald Trump, you put a nail in the coffin of democracy; vote for Joe Biden, and our democracy will be kept alive for another 4 years; not voting drives the coffin nail even deeper! Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle!
Donald Trump has the working vocabulary of a high school freshman. He is incapable of forming mature, loving relationships and has attempted to prove his masculinity by assaulting at least 23 women and boasting, “…I can grab them by the (redacted)…” He has settled for or been found by a jury to have committed fraud for $354 million, $83 million, and $25 million. He is a felon on 34 different counts.
His ignorance about COVID-19 is profound. It shows that in at least 38 cases, COVID was just a common flu, ultraviolet light could be a therapy, and hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment. He caused a 28% drop in gross domestic product. Effective actions by the Federal Reserve Bank, an institution Trump wants to abolish, prevented the greatest depression in the US. The low current inflation is a direct result of the FED’s depression actions. The US lost 1,189,083 citizens to COVID. The death toll from all wars is 646,596. Trump caused the greatest economic disaster and twice as many deaths as all wars combined.
Trump contracted COVID in October 2020. Doctors missed a golden opportunity to experiment with Trump’s proposed therapies. If those doctors had given him a colonoscopy using ultraviolet light, if the light beams were shooting out of each ear, that would be irrefutable proof that Trump has no brain!
We don’t need a debate.
Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu allow nothing to stop them from killing innocent civilians in heinous ways. Putin justifies the massacre of Ukrainians with gross disinformation. Netanyahu justifies the extermination of Palestinians with the cruel attack by Hamas on October 7, which of course deserves a strong reaction.
Any chance of stopping them will probably have to come from within. Resistance to Adolf Hitler’s atrocities was embodied by the world-famous German Christian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who felt called by God to help assassinate Hitler. Bonhoeffer, author of the evangelical classic “Discipleship,” paid the ultimate price – he was executed by Hitler.
Hopefully, the carnage can be stopped without the autocrats being killed. To avoid harsh retaliation, organized Russian or Israeli groups opposing Putin or Netanyahu would have to hold back. Both leaders face massive domestic opposition, as demonstrated by the huge Russian protests against the death of dissident Alexei Navalny and the long-running Israeli mass protests against Netanyahu’s corruption and power grab.
Many Americans are understandably upset by President Joe Biden’s lukewarm, belated criticism of Netanyahu. Those threatening not to vote for Biden, however, should reconsider. Biden’s accomplishments include: funding the IRS to audit wealthy tax cheats; expanding benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances; protecting reproductive rights; raising middle-class wages above inflation; creating the most jobs ever; mobilizing global support for Ukraine; containing the COVID pandemic; appointing the first Black public defender/justice to the Supreme Court; expanding health insurance; and rebuilding our long-neglected infrastructure.
Donald Trump wants to be a dictator; is a convicted felon; opposes aid to Ukraine; admires Putin and Netanyahu; appoints only political lapdogs; and has retaliated harshly against the opposition, past and present. If you believe him, his scapegoats would certainly be immigrants and probably people of color.
And the zeal of Trump’s electorate is frightening: many white Americans who call themselves “evangelical Christians” have turned away from Christ and idolized Trump, violating the second of the Bible’s Ten Commandments.
I was most dismayed to read about the Cascade Locks City Council’s discussion of a resolution to make Juneteenth City a holiday. Apparently one of the council members, Butch Miller, had made no preparations for this resolution beforehand and expressed “mixed emotions,” stating, “You have Black History Month. You have Kwanzaa. And now you want to have Juneteenth. Veterans have a day.”
Mr. Miller, let this former Cascade Locks School history teacher/principal do your homework for you: The reason we hold month-long commemorations is so that governments, groups and organizations can raise awareness of issues, recognize groups or events, and celebrate accomplishments. Many of the accomplishments of African Americans, women, Asian Americans and Hispanics have been left out of traditional American history. These commemorations allow us to learn more about how our country has benefited from the diverse groups who call this country our home today.
Kwanzaa is an annual celebration created in 1966 based on African Thanksgiving traditions. It was created after the Watts Riots in California to give black people an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history. It focuses on unity, self-determination, collective and cooperative work, purpose, creativity, and faith. It is NOT recognized as an official holiday in the United States. It is a cultural celebration very similar to the Aloha Festival in Hawaii or the Irish Festival in Dublin, Ohio.
Juneteenth National Independence Day is an official federal holiday (2021) in the United States. It marks the end of slavery in the United States (1865) and is considered the longest-standing African-American holiday and the second American Independence Day. Veterans Day is also a recognized federal holiday (1919) honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. A day to honor veterans and a day to commemorate the end of slavery.
Perhaps these facts will help Mr. Miller overcome his conflicting feelings and engage in an informed discussion about adding a recognized federal holiday to the list of City of Cascade Locks holidays.
If the current course of the Republican Party is to change and our two-party system is to survive, some courageous and influential leaders must take the initiative.
Under the malign influence of Donald Trump, the Republican Party is sowing distrust in the integrity of elections and our justice system, both of which are essential to good government.
What is particularly reprehensible is that he incites his supporters to threaten and harm public officials, including election officials, judges, and other employees of the justice system.
Only those who are blindly loyal to him and indifferent to the consequences of that loyalty will continue to support his re-election as president.
Republicans who are willing to support this convicted felon are as guilty as Donald Trump and do not deserve our support.
Why is Jerrod Sessler running for Congress? He wants America back. He is tired of seeing the Constitution twisted over and over again by allowing Congress to let corrupt bureaucrats make laws when the responsibility lies with those the people elected. He is tired of seeing Congress bribe American citizens with their own money. Jerrod is determined to work for the people and make sure Congress follows its own rules. Jerrod is not a politician, but a patriot who sees it as his duty to help make Congress belong to the people again. We have elected “politicians” for far too long, and America is too important to leave to the politicians. America belongs to the people, not a handful of billionaires with the means to influence Congress to their advantage.
So let’s make 2024 the year we elect God-fearing, America-loving candidates like Jerrod Sessler who want to run for Congress to serve the people, not to pursue special interests or make deals and play politics; jerrodforcongress.com.
Nothing has changed in 2,000 years. Today’s republican Sanhedrin calls out to the crowd, “Elect Barabbas!” to keep their wealth and power. Heaven help us if we elect leaders who will throw the money changers out of the temple and focus on the health and welfare of the people. Matthew 27:16, Mark 15:7, and John 18:40.
I will not live under a dictator like Trump who wants to rule America with his family. That would mean taking away our freedom and our rights. Not while I am in office!
