GOP representatives should do what’s best for state

To the Editor:

It is time to stop supporting the mindless Republicans who couldn’t care less about helping the people of Indiana.

Tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 26) Representative Jim Baird will likely follow the lead of California Representative Kevin McCarthy and oppose President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief package which will be put up for a vote in the House.

Then later next week, our two senators, Todd Young and Mike Braun, will likely follow the lead of Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell and also oppose it.

I don’t know, maybe the people in California and Kentucky don’t need this kind of COVID relief:

• $1,400 per adult and dependent, phasing out for individuals earning more than $75,000 and households earning more than $150,000.

• $350 billion in additional direct aid to state, local and tribal governments, and $170 billion in funding for schools and colleges.

• Several new unemployment benefits expire in mid-March. President Biden’s plan would increase supplemental payments to $400 and extend all three programs through September.

(Bulleted items are from The New York Times’ Feb. 11 article by Alicia Parlapiano.)

The people of Indiana, however, NEED this support. Heck, the Putnam County Commissioners can’t even find the money to hire a second public health nurse (Feb. 19, Banner Graphic). That’s right folks, Putnam County has ONE public health nurse and we are in a pandemic that has killed over a half-million Americans.

In Indiana, as in most states, we pay property, state and federal taxes. Now, given the chance to get some of the federal taxes back, our representative and senators say NO.

It is time the people we send to Congress think independently and support Indiana, instead of following the likes of McCarthy of California and McConnell of Kentucky.

Gerald E. Gau

Roachdale