What is government for? Why do we even have one?

Government provides the services that make the economy flow smoothly. It keeps the records like deeds and drivers licenses. You can go to Mayville and look at the records going all the way back to the Holland Land Company for free. We count on government to be honest, to keep the law and run at cost

Government supplies and maintains the roads the economy drives on. Without roads there would be no commerce. As a function of government records, roads and bridges are built and maintained at cost, no profit just a good service. If roads were run by corporations the profit motive would be overwhelming. We would pay more in tolls than we currently pay in taxes. Materials the roads are made of would be cheaper. Maintenance would be delayed. Workers wages would be cut.

All these things would have a negative impact on our community. Money spent getting around is money taken from everything else. Poorly built and maintained roads will cost us in car repairs. Lower wages hurts the whole community. We depend on people making a good living so that they can buy things, work on their houses and go to restaurants. When wages are lower there is less money circulating within the economy.

Our representatives make the laws we all have to live by. It is paramount that as many people as possible vote. That is why HR 1 the For the People Act is so important. It has provisions for early voting, vote by mail and universal registration. The arguments against these things is the same as the arguments against the Motor Voter Registration Bill of 1993. Today when you fill out the application for your drivers license anywhere in the country you can just check a box and Presto! You’re registered to vote. The Republican Party opposed this for decades because they thought it would give Democrats an advantage. They argued that there would be more Democrats using it than Republicans and that it would lead to voter fraud. This has not been the case in Chautauqua County. There are the same proportion of drivers who are Conservative as there are liberals. Motor Voter didn’t change that it just made it easier for more people to participate. It also has not led to voter fraud. There has not been a single case of someone falsifying the address on their drivers license to vote in another district.

Vote by mail is secure. It was started in the Civil War to allow soldiers to vote. The military still uses it. Vote by Mail ballots are very hard to fake. They are a very non-standard size, printed on special paper with special envelopes.

Early voting means that someone who works on June 22 can have their voice heard. It means the person who lives in Brocton can vote early in Dunkirk. They don’t have to drive to Jamestown. It means that an elderly person who doesn’t drive does not have to rely on a ride June 22. With early voting they can stop at the fairgrounds when they come to shop at Tops or Aldi’s.

Why are Republicans making laws that make it harder to vote? What are they afraid of?

The Voter ID laws are one example of obstruction. If it were really about making sure everyone who votes has a right to be there they would accept student IDs, or Medicare Insurance cards or Social Security Cards.

To make sure certain neighborhoods would have long lines poling places were closed. Then in Georgia the Republicans wrote a law that made handing out water to people in line illegal.

They are afraid of the Democrats’ ideas. There are two specific taxes that will only effect the wealthy. If income from capital gains were taxed the same as wages, a rich person would be paying the same tax as a working person. A tax of 0.0005% on stock transactions would raise enough money to pay for the infrastructure bill. You and I can’t buy so much as a paper clip without paying an 8% tax on it. Why shouldn’t they pay their fair share? Why are Republicans opposing this?

Marie Tomlinson is a Fredonia resident.