Concern for people?

Our current POTUS built his 2016 campaign on one slogan. He did not reveal during the campaign that in his view making our country great again meant making corporations great again. Witness the multibilliondollar tax cut for corporations. Publicly held corporations used those dollars to buy back their own stock and enhance company value.

In December public health officials began to warn the administration of covid-19. In January members of the U.S. Senate were given a private briefing. Within days four senators—three Republicans and one Democrat—sold millions of dollars of stock in companies likely to suffer when the virus arrived in the U.S. They said nothing to their constituents about the health threat. Neither did POTUS.

And arrive it did—despite the 15 or so public and recorded protestations of POTUS that the virus would not be harmful to U.S. citizens. For about a week POTUS seemed to show some concern about the virus and its potential impact. He even talked of using federal assets to ramp up production of needed health-care equipment.

Alas, last weekend he went back to his former self. To POTUS it is far more important to rebuild American businesses than to help all who have been, are, and will be affected by what may be the greatest public health crisis in the history of the U.S. The state of the economy is the only thing that has kept him popular and he is terrified his re-election hopes will be dashed if the economy falters.

I am equally dismayed that Sen. Tom Cotton knows what is happening in Arkansas. He knows of the shortages of protective clothing and equipment. And yet, he agrees with POTUS on rebuilding the corporations and the economy. If he has made any efforts to help relieve the shortages that affect Arkansans, I have overlooked them. Cotton’s future political dreams have been well publicized. His expressions of concern for, and dedication to, health-care workers and patients, if any, have not been so well publicized.

SAM HIGHSMITH

Little Rock