Large businesses get bailouts, but pandemic aid is ‘too much’ for families

The loss of that extra $600 means not having the ability to afford health insurance for a family,

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Banners against renters eviction reading no job, no rent is displayed on a controlled rent building in Washington, DC on August 9, 2020. - With double digit unemployment, disruption to businesses from social distancing rules, and persistent coronavirus spread, many Americans had been relying on relief measures approved earlier by Congress, but which mostly expired in July. One key Trump order promises to get $400 a week added to Americans’ unemployment benefits, while two others offer some protection from evictions and relief for student loans

Photo by ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images

I have a simple question for Republican lawmakers who think the extra $600 in unemployment benefits (aka a necessary lifeline) is too much money. 

Why is it “too much” for working folks to receive an $600 per week to help them get by during a worldwide pandemic, yet it’s a necessity to provide tax breaks and bailouts in the millions for large corporations and those who simply do not need such assistance?

Personally, the loss of that extra $600 means not having the ability to afford health insurance for my family, during a worldwide pandemic. Can someone please explain the logic in that?

Andrés Moreno, Avondale

SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes. Letters should be approximately 350 words or less.

Wake up, public

The public should know that President Donald Trump’s executive order pausing “payroll tax payments” will gut Social Security and enrich employers. If you receive Social Security, your future income is in jeopardy.

When will the public wake up to what the GOP is doing to retired and poor people? 

Warren Rodgers Jr., Matteson

Don’t believe the hype

When I was an 18-year-old election judge, in the early 1970s, the “voting machines” made a mark on a roll of brown paper whenever a voter flicked a lever.

After the polls closed, the judges at each polling place had to manually tabulate the votes to report to the Board of Election Commissioners. I recall struggling to keep my eyes open, sitting at the table after 10 p.m., as we were still counting. We’d started work at 5 am.

Mail-in ballots that can be read and counted by scanner and computer will be a breeze compared with the older manual system.

The only thing our representatives must investigate now is malfeasance by the U.S. Postal Service. The current postmaster’s policies already are resulting in delayed and missing mail. My family has missed utility bills and other correspondence.

Muriel Balla, Kenwood

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