Don’t bail out the airlines; let the free market work. Spend instead on COVID-19.

Airline bailout

Some airlines are doomed to fail, therefore Donald Trump’s proposed airline bailout package is misguided.

Airlines are now operating at under 50% capacity and forecasting it will take four years to get back to pre-COVID-19 ridership levels. A short-term bailout package to keep all airline employees and all airlines solvent benefits shareholders and just delays the inevitable industry consolidation.

We probably don’t remember and do not miss TWA, Pan Am and Eastern as their routes were easily absorbed by other airlines.

The administration should not attempt to socialize airlines through continued airline bailouts. Let free-market dynamics adjust airline capacity to demand. Use the proposed airline bailout money to provide medical care and research for COVID-19 or to directly support a broad stimulus package for unemployed Americans.

Peter Mamuzic, Pinehurst

The stimulus bill

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported that Thursday was the third highest day of COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

This spike is unacceptable. It puts North Carolinians at risk for not just contracting the deadly virus, but for being unable to weather the economic crisis. As of mid-August, about 30% of N.C. workers had filed for unemployment benefits and claims are rising again.

While essential workers are keeping North Carolina running, they’re at risk of losing electricity, water and heat. Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas will resume shutoffs for unpaid bills this month. During a pandemic when people need to stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19 cutting off these utilities is unconscionable.

Sen. Thom Tillis needs to push for a COVID-19 relief bill that helps struggling North Carolina families stay safe, pay their utility bills, and have access to life-saving services

Karen Bearden, Raleigh

Sen. Thom Tillis

Cal Cunningham made a foolish mistake. If he were my son-in-law, I’d be pretty unhappy with him. But I expect the people he injured are mostly himself and his family.

His opponent, Sen. Thom Tillis, refused to expand Medicaid when he was in the N.C. legislature. This has hurt thousands of North Carolinians by denying them medical insurance and accepted thousands of dollars from drug companies in return for allowing them to charge us more for our medication.

Tillis opposes the Affordable Care Act, which gives people medical insurance during this terrible pandemic. He has caused hardship for a lot of our people. We should not give him the opportunity to hurt us more.

Adams Wofford, Chapel Hill

GOP enablers

Republicans don’t get a re-set after the president leaves office. They let this happen.

Most of them said nothing when Trump cleared peaceful demonstrators with chemical irritants for a photo op. They said nothing when he called COVID-19 a hoax. They said nothing when we learned that Trump downplayed how serious this pandemic was, despite attempts to create panic in other areas (like caravans of migrants marching to our border).

Rather than stand up to Trump, these GOP enablers ran for the shadows like cockroaches. Now, they’re deep in a cult of hypocrisy and dishonesty.

Sorry, but they’ve tied yourselves to the deck of the Titanic. When this is over, don’t dare say, “Ah shucks, that was then, this is now.” They should be ashamed of what they’ve done to our country and our democracy.

John Schelp, Durham

Party platforms

Bob Orr’s op-ed comments quite accurate and well-said. But he did not explain why, in spite of their negative feelings, so many NeverTrumpers and AlwaysTrumpers voted for and will again vote for Donald Trump “while holding their nose.”

The Republican Party is far more than Trump. Likewise, the Democrat Party is not just Joe Biden. How both of these men rose to the top of their parties is beyond me, but it doesn’t say much for our society if they are the best we can do.

Since it is hard for many of us to vote for either of these “gentlemen,” what we must do is look closely at the platforms of the two parties and decide which of their visions for America we want.

Don’t read analyses of the platforms by the various pundits and know-it-alls; read them for yourself and vote for the party vision, not for the man. Both platforms are available online.

Fred Atkins, Durham

Trump and the ACA

The president tweeted that we shouldn’t be afraid of COVID-19. I guess if I had the best doctors in the world, access to the best medicines and treatments, all paid for by American taxpayers, perhaps I wouldn’t be afraid of it either.

Unfortunately, that is not the case for almost all Americans. Time to get on board for improving the Affordable Care Act. But instead of doing that the president and his party are doing everything in their power to abandoning the ACA, leaving more and more Americans without insurance.

Beth Henrici, Durham

This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 2:23 PM.