Letters to the editor: Galloway, Mathias, Amy Coney Barrett, CARES 2
Editor’s note: The deadline to submit letters to the editor related to the elections is 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23.
Galloway
I find it humorous that Democrat 15B Idaho House Candidate, Jake Ellis, is calling himself the business, education, and tax candidate when his Republican opponent, Codi Galloway, is the successful business owner and past public school teacher. While Jake has never run a business, Codi has successfully run three. Even more ridiculous, the teachers union has endorsed Jake, a retired firefighter, instead of Codi, a previous public school teacher. I might find a justification for this endorsement if Jake had ever proposed a solution for Idaho education beyond “paying teachers more.” In contrast, Codi has dedicated both her professional time and one of her businesses to education. I wonder who might actually have solutions to our educational problems? Finally, and most laughable, Jake’s solution to the rising property tax issue is to “tax farmers and businesses more.” As a business owner herself, Codi understands that taxing farmers and businesses is not only an unsustainable solution, it hurts the most vulnerable in our community. When I consider these three issues alone, it is Codi Galloway, not Jake Ellis who truly understands what Idahoans need. That is why I will be voting for Codi Galloway this November.
Nicole Horton, Boise
Mathias
Idahoans like myself have a lot at stake this election as we all struggle with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, many in our communities face housing insecurity, inability to access health care, financial stress, educational obstacles and mental health crises. We have a responsibility to vote for candidates who will face these issues head on and with the compassion that each and every Idahoan deserves and needs.
Chris Mathias will ensure that our friends, families and neighbors have value and a voice at the statehouse. He has the empathy, insight, understanding, and experience necessary to represent District 19 in the legislature and stand up for the heart and wellbeing of our community. Now more than ever, we need champions for reproductive health care, LGBTQ folks, people of color, and refugees – and Chris Mathias is that champion. As we prepare for yet another session of cruel attacks and ugly extremism by the majority, I urge you to vote for a candidate who will compassionately, responsibly, and urgently address the needs of our beloved city and state, Chris Mathias.
Karyn Levin, Boise
Barrett
Mark Peterson’s 10/6/20 letter to the editor, which criticizes Washington Post columnist Marc A. Thiessen’s Sunday commentary, exemplifies a point lost on most people: We should not condemn Congress for failing to take an action that would constitute an exercise in futility. Holding a Senate confirmation hearing in 2016 on Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee would have been exactly that.
With Republicans holding 54 Senate seats, and Democrats holding only 44, the likelihood that 60 Senators would have confirmed Judge Merrick Garland, even after a full-fledged hearing, was non-existent. No one “denied” Obama his “constitutional duty to present [sic ‘nominate’] a qualified candidate for Senate confirmation,” as Peterson contends. Obama nominated Judge Garland under Article II, § 2, of the U.S. Constitution, and the Senate simply failed to “consent” as was its concomitant prerogative under Article II, § 2. Thus, contrary to Peterson’s conclusion, the Senate complied with the Constitution.
And Senators Risch and Crapo are well within their constitutional authority to “consent” to the appointment of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Elizabeth Harvey, Boise
CARES 2
People struggling here and around the world have been waiting for months for Congress to pass an emergency COVID-19 response bill.
Projections are that global hunger will double, and thousands of infants will suffer or die of severe malnutrition. An estimated 80 million children are at risk of vaccine-preventable disease for lack of access to regular health services. AIDS, TB, and malaria cases and deaths are projected to rise to levels we haven’t seen in 10-20 years.
Global health and preventable vaccinations are something that most Americans support. I’m calling on Senators Crapo and Risch and representatives Fulcher and Simpson to get creative, fight, prioritize, and not give up on passing an emergency COVID-19 bill that helps Americans and those struggling in lower-income countries.
Kris Paulson, Boise
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 9:37 AM.