Letters to the Editor: Joe Biden needs to tell Republicans to get out of his way on COVID relief

To the editor: President Biden has to do something right now. Whether you call it disaster relief or something else, we need it, because we’re in trouble. (“Unity on COVID relief doesn’t mean caving to Republican demands,” editorial, Feb. 1)

Our problems now include a sputtering economy, poor race relations, too many voters believing made-up conspiracy theories and lies, hate groups growing and arming for revolution, a dysfunctional government, and a virus that’s mutating. Doing nothing is not an option.

So, does Biden do something big or small? Big looks like $1.9 trillion. Big looks like get on board or get out of the way.

Small looks like compromise, like doing a little something here and a little something there. Small looks like hesitation, talking about it and worrying how it will look.

Andy Garcia, Long Beach

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To the editor: I live in Long Beach in a condo threatened with foreclosure. I need a stimulus payment now and I need it to be big.

I don’t care if the two-kid, two-parent household down the street bringing in $200,000 annually gets a stimulus check of $8,000. If they buy new appliances, that’s more work for installers. If they re-landscape, that’s more work for landscapers. If they bank it, that’s more capital for loans to small businesses.

I only care when the top 20% get richer at the expense of the bottom 80%.

If my stimulus check for $2,000 comes quickly, I don’t care that my wealthy neighbors who didn’t “need it” got a check for $8,000. I would prefer that to a delay in disbursement compounded by hoops I will have to jump through in a “targeted” program just to prove I am eligible.

Adreana Langston, Long Beach