Chicago Tribune endorses Gary Johnson (and my LTTE in response)
This morning when I read the Tribune's endorsement of libertarian Gary Johnson (linked below) I just had to write a letter to the editor.
Tribune endorses Johnson as a "principled" option
My LTTE:
I read with incredulity the Tribune editorial board's endorsement of Gary Johnson as a "principled" option for president. His libertarian principles include abolishing the following: income tax (to be replaced with a consumption tax that would hit poor people the hardest); public education (replaced with vouchers for privatized schools); and almost all regulation (including the Environmental Protection Agency). Libertarianism is just as much of a pie-in-the-sky fantasy as Marxism, at the other extreme end of the spectrum.
Additionally, Mr. Johnson is wholly unqualified on the foreign policy front. He had no idea that Aleppo was a devastated city in the Syrian war zone, frequently in the news. To justify their endorsement of this candidate over the highly qualified Democratic nominee, the Tribune referred to Hillary Clinton's so-called "scandals" which were almost entirely the product of partisan witch hunts by Republicans. The Tribune also bemoaned her platform for paid family medical leave, affordable college, fixing our nation's infrastructure, and raising taxes on the wealthy to pay for it. Instead, the Tribune recommends reigning in "entitlements" -- austerity for citizens who worked hard all their lives for retirement benefits -- while making no recommendation to close loopholes for highly profitable corporations like GE that manage to pay no taxes.
Tax cuts under the Bush administration accelerated the concentration of wealth in fewer hands at the top. Trickle down economics didn't work then, and it won't work now. The truly principled approach is to invest in the infrastructure and education upon which economic activity depends, and to shake loose the concentrated wealth which has not been circulating. Disposable income in the hands of the majority of the people is the key to a healthy economy.
The Tribune's endorsement of Gary Johnson for president makes me question this newspaper's principles and judgment.
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