Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

GUEST COLUMN:

Biden is the leader this nation needs

Nevada’s economy has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic — likely harder, in fact, than any other state’s.

In normal times, more than 430,000 Nevadans rely on jobs in the tourism industry, but as a result of this crisis, 330,000 have found themselves out of work, a number without any historical precedent. Thousands more are confined to their homes, uncertain of when life may return to normal. And this is to say nothing of those who have suffered or lost friends and loved ones to the coronavirus, without the chance to say goodbye in person or even attend their funerals.

In difficult times such as these, a real leader would step up to the challenge and provide solace to the population, but President Donald Trump has been more concerned about his optics than with reality.

The existence of COVID-19 is not Trump’s fault, but the administration’s slow and inept response lies on his shoulders. Nevadans deserve a president who, like Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, will listen to medical professionals, not one who seeks to bury the truth under a pile of dangerous falsehoods.

This pandemic has made all too clear that, in times of crisis, it matters who is sitting in the Oval Office. It also matters to whom leaders turn for advice and counsel. We need a president who has been tried and tested, and who knows how to manage an economic recovery that will likely take several years.

That leader is Joe Biden. The former vice president helped lead the Obama administration’s responses to H1N1 and Ebola. He will not ignore problems, or blame others, or get up in front of the country every day to spew misinformation. Instead, he will do what presidents ought to: put scientists and other experts in key positions and take their advice.

Back in February, Biden called on Trump to take this threat seriously. As late as mid-March, Trump was still predicting that we would not need any economic stimulus. By contrast, Biden has released a detailed plan outlining the decisive, urgent response that the American people deserve.

The vice president was sworn into office at the height of the Great Recession, and President Barack Obama called on him to oversee the implementation of the Recovery Act. Biden made sure that the stimulus funds went to the working- and middle-class families who needed them most. In Nevada, Recovery Act projects helped reboot our economy and get us back to work. Workers and small-business owners in Las Vegas know that we need that effective leadership once again.

Biden has explained in detail how he would scale up unemployment insurance immediately across the country, lower Medicare eligibility to 60 and expand student loan forgiveness. These proposals are founded in his humanity, decency and belief that public service means serving the public.

Just as he did in 2009, the vice president also wants to make sure stimulus funds are distributed fairly and in a timely manner, particularly to our hard-hit small businesses. His plan would ensure that small businesses actually get the relief they need by reserving half of all new Paycheck Protection Program funds for businesses with 50 or fewer employees. This would make a real difference in the Las Vegas Valley for the small businesses, many of them minority-owned, that play an outsized and indispensable role in our economy and cultural fabric.

While the iconic Las Vegas Strip may feel eerily quiet right now, we know our community is a resilient one. The workers who clean hotel rooms, deal cards and serve meals must not be left behind. To help guarantee that people in Las Vegas have a job to return to when this crisis is over, Joe Biden is committed to ensuring that travel and tourism businesses will be treated just like other employers in this recovery.

Eventually, life will begin to return to the public spaces and tourist attractions of our state. The neon lights will flicker on once more. We’ll have a president with empathy who listens to the experts. And the sense of purpose and hope that Nevadans always feel, even in the toughest of times, will be rekindled.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., is in her fifth term in Congress, where she represents the state’s 1st congressional district. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., was re-elected to the 4th congressional district in 2018 after previously holding that district’s seat from 2013-15.