CRAPO: Few good choices

Today I received a flyer in the mail from the office of Sen. Mike Crapo, who is running for re-election this year. The flyer stated that he is supporting increased efforts to stop domestic violence. I applaud him for that. They need help.

The flyer doesn’t mention his positions on other critical issues — possibly because he hopes we’ll overlook his other positions.

He has been busy protecting the right of the drug companies to charge outrageous prices. He explains, “The drug companies need the money for research.” That’s been long since disproven. Just Pfizer, last year, had a 42 percent profit margin. We pay the highest drug prices in the world, by far.

He has been busy protecting the right of health insurance companies to continue to increase premiums, co-pays and deductibles. If you have a typical health insurance policy, know that you most likely pay more for it than almost anyone else in the world.

Crapo has supported cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Food Stamps (because we “don’t have the money to pay for them), while also supporting additional tax cuts for the billionaires who don’t need them.

He supports, across the board, economic policies that continue to make the rich richer and the rest of us poorer.

If you want more of the same, vote for Mike Crapo. These policies that hurt most of us only continue because voters keep electing the politicians who support them.

PAMELA OLSEN

Coeur d’Alene