My answer to letter writer Bradd Reynolds’ final question in last week’s letter to the editor is that this nation is unequivocally better off now than when Trump was president. His other questionable statements, such as “the big liberal social program experiments have not been working out here in America,” merit a response.
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the child tax credit to reduce parental poverty and children’s hunger, SNAP food benefits and the Affordable Care Act are just a few successful “big liberal social experiments” that come to mind.
The Biden administration has also been dabbling in “social experiments” such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package, the American Rescue Plan, the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, the Clean Energy Investment Tax Credit, the imposition of a 15% minimum corporate tax on mega-corporations and long overdue legislation authorizing Medicare the power to negotiate with Big Pharma over prescription drug prices.
Reynolds wondered “why liberals are worried, since they ‘claim’ Biden won the last election by millions of votes.”
Biden’s legitimate election victory is not a questionable “claim.” Over 60 separate court decisions ruled there was no evidence supporting any aspect of Trump’s big lie alleging widespread voter fraud, compromised voting systems or irregularities in the mail-in voting process that supposedly caused his loss to President Biden.
Trump demonstrably advocated and participated in insurrection against the United States of America. Judgments by both Colorado’s district and supreme courts confirm that assessment, and also that Trump, former officer, or office holder, of the presidency, is indeed subject to the ramifications of section three of the 14th Amendment.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service’s study of its text, “Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment does not expressly require a criminal conviction, and historically, one was not necessary.”
Keeping Trump off the ballot is not, as Mr. Reynolds declared, “a liberal ploy.” It is the appropriate application of constitutional law being applied to adjudicate whether such a subversive former chief officer of the nation should be permitted yet another electoral opportunity to abuse, threaten or ignore the Constitution he was sworn, yet refused, to protect and uphold.
The best way to “give democracy another chance” is to forbid Trump access to its levers of power again, and permanently bar him from running for any elected public office.
J.B. Bouchard
Cathlamet
