Letter: Covering the bases on proposals
Some people believe Michigan's lockdown for COVID necessary, others don't.
Michigan set aside $55 million in state funding to help struggling small businesses hurt by COVID-19 restrictions. HB 5569, 5732, and 5772 all increase police funding. All of these bills passed with bipartisan support and Whitmer signed them into law. Across the country, police budgets have gone up. Defund the police is not a plank in the Democratic platform.
Here are just six reasons why we need to go green for better energy sources for the planet and less toxins in our food and water: the Kolva River spill (1994); the Mingbulak oil spill (1992); the Atlantic Empress oil spill (1979); the lxtoc 1 oil spill (1979); BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010) and the Persian Gulf War Oil Spill (1991).
To blame just one party for the way the world is today is ridiculous. Our foreign affairs have failed in both parties. Regarding inflation, we know supply and demand is a basic economic principle. No doubt government spending helps fuel inflation. But all the disruptions in the supply line lowering supplies without a proportional drop in demand puts more upward pressure on prices.
The shutdowns exposed the weaknesses in the global economy, such as the lack of chips from China that halted production lines here. Just remember, it was Ronald Reagan who started the flow of jobs to China. It was renewed each year, until Clinton made it permanent. The cheap labor in China made the extra shipping costs worth it.
Then there is price gouging. Why is it every time there is an oil supply issue, the Exxon/Mobils of the world have record profits? Remember when insulin price hikes went from $13.50 to $750? It was completely legal. There is little the government can do except when the price gouging company does business with the government. Then there is a bargaining chip. The president's main economic throttle is getting to appoint the head of the Fed.
No one seems to talk about our part. We have the largest per capita consumption (and per capita waste) of any country. Every year demand for energy rises. Obviously, consumption varies depending on the socioeconomic ladder. We should at least consider the part our gluttony plays.
As far as the dark money in elections, both sides use it. I will also be voting yes on all three. It makes sense to me.
Thomas Eberhart
Carleton
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Letter: Covering the bases on proposals
