More should be done to stop spread of COVID-19
After reading the article, “WHO leader says virus risk inevitable at Tokyo Olympics,” News, July 21, I felt the need to comment on its importance. The Tokyo Olympics are occurring at the worst possible time in terms of COVID-19 risk and spread, and it was always going to end up in mass infection among athletes and fans. As the article says, only 10 countries possess 75% of global vaccine doses, and more needs to be done about this.
As an intern at The Borgen Project, a national nonprofit that attempts to fight global poverty, I have been educated in the importance of making sure all countries receive the vaccine, not just the most developed. After reading this article, I felt compelled to comment on this injustice and emphasize how much more needs to be done to eradicate COVID-19.
ZANDER CLAY, ATLANTA
Money for tax auditing should not be removed from bill
The $1.2 trillion “bipartisan” bill to upgrade the nation’s crumbling infrastructure is in peril because Senate Republicans care more about rich tax-cheating criminals than about the rest of us. The infrastructure plan included $40 billion to increase IRS tax auditing. It would have netted an estimated $100 billion, about one-sixth of the new spending proposed in the bill. But GOP senators caved to radical anti-tax groups and demanded removal of the tax enforcement provision.
Right-wing organizations such as Heritage Action would have you believe the IRS budget increase would send legions of jack-booted thugs to persecute ordinary working people. But in fact, the IRS civil servants would have been targeting individuals and businesses earning more than $400,000 a year and evading taxes they legally owe. Here we have yet another example of Republican politicians sacrificing the general welfare on the altar of the already rich and powerful.
CHRIS MOSER, STONECREST
