Pay cut, Congress?
With so many people unemployed and hurting financially in so many ways, I think it is time to ask Congress to take a pay cut to free money for individuals and small businesses that need help.
David Luck, Berthoud
Loss from another pandemic
My grandfather, Jack Bangert, died in the Spanish flu pandemic. He was in his 20s and volunteered to drive the doctor around to see very sick patients who at that time were suffering in their homes. His family were farmers in northwest Iowa and had a car. He contracted the disease and died. The doctor, thank goodness, lived.
Grandpa Jack’s mother got the disease also. She died on Nov. 28, 1918, and he died the following day. It was Thanksgiving Day and the family had lost both their mother and their brother in less than two days.
To all of you who have lost someone in this new pandemic, know that my father, who was 2 years old when his father died, wished all his life that his father had lived.
To all of you who are on the front lines, may you, like that doctor from a hundred years ago, stay healthy and know that this community thanks you every day.
P.S. My grandfather’s great-grandson, my nephew, is a doctor working in emergency medicine at Denver Health. And yes, he has worked with coronavirus patients.
Elizabeth Bangert Moffatt, Denver
“Swimming naked”
Re: “For restaurants, 50% open might as well be 100% closed,” April 26 commentary
Restaurateurs Caroline Glover and Nelson Harvey accurately described the precarious financial state of their industry that existed long before the arrival of COVID-19. They confessed most restaurants “keep just enough cash on hand to operate for 15 days.” In reality, most households also hold that amount of cash if they have any cash in the bank. Itap a gamble for anyone to build a business or household with virtually no cash to spare. Even a minor emergency could easily wipe them out, exposing them as “swimming naked!”
Warren Buffett famously said a decade or so ago: “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” It clarifies why most restaurants will not survive even after limited in-house dining is again allowed.
Whatap the solution? When starting or running a restaurant or household, it seems logical one must amass sufficient capital to carry them through for at least three to six months without income. In so doing, they will no longer be “swimming naked.”
L. Grant Shideler, Aurora
Conference call
Re: “State enters next phase,” April 28 news story
Good for Gov. Jared Polis announcing that he is joining other Western state governors in the Western State Pact, which now includes five states: Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada, all working together on unified coronavirus strategies.
“We must have a multifaceted and bold approach in order to slow the spread of the virus,” Polis said.
This is just the latest example of Colorado’s cooperative efforts with all the state governors in the Pacific time zone. Now all we need are the governors of Utah and Arizona to sign up as well, and we will have something other than just a university athletic conference to support: a new PAC-12, Politicians Against COVID-19!
Stephen Immer, Breckenridge
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.
