To the Editor:
I really struggled to finish reading Otto Hernandez’s column on his assessment of President Joe Biden’s first year in office, as it’s filled with conjecture, premature evaluations (especially of the economy) and citations from two newspapers, the Washington Examiner and N.Y. Post, that are ultra-right and decidedly anti-Biden. I won’t even read one article from the N.Y. Post, and that includes the sports section! Space limits me to address all my concerns, since they would take up two Hernandez-size columns, but allow me to address a few.
First, Joe Biden never endorsed defunding the police. He endorsed reforming police attitudes and community involvement, but not defunding.
Now that’s not to say there was some initial discussion on that topic, but it was mainly confined to the progressive left wing of the party, and was never seriously considered by the mainstream. Next, the writer cites Biden’s many lies. Seriously? Do you really want to go there after what we put up with for four years from the previous administration? This one is truly laughable.
After doing a little research, I discovered that of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 Relief Plan, $10 billion went to New Jersey. Hammonton received $1.36 million of this. Atlantic County overall received $51 million! This money was sorely needed to prevent layoffs to essential services, and losses incurred by small business owners, due to the pandemic.
This rescue package for America passed with no Republican votes, by the way, requiring a tie-breaking vote by the vice president. The writer cites the cost of this program, but what about the tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations that was passed by the previous administration, providing relief to the ultra-wealthy and corporations, some of which paid little tax at all like Amazon, which uses the savings to, in turn finance the slow strangulation of its retail competition, in my opinion.
Finally, regarding gun control legislation, the Biden administration did manage to get a watered-down version of gun safety regulations passed by the totally ineffective senate, but even though an assault weapons ban was proposed and eventually just passed this week by the house, it is doomed to an overwhelming defeat when it reaches the Senate, where many of them are serving at the whims of the gun lobby, in my opinion.
In closing, I cite Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who said in late July that it was “wrong” when Republicans work with Democrats. This is what Biden has to contend with.
Chick DeCicco
Hammonton