Rightward ho!

To the editor:

I recognize the danger of the Republican-controlled Congress continuing to give President Donald Trump free reign to overstep his mandate and threaten to become a dictator. I have donated to numerous Democratic candidates running for election or reelection to the House and Senate.

But I check the records of all these candidates and have not knowingly given to one who I consider abhorrent. Which is why I won't contribute to the re-election campaign of one of the U.S. senators from New Hampshire, Maggie Hassan.

In 2021, Hassan and seven other Democrats voted with Republicans to block President Joe Biden's proposal to raise the pitiful federal $7.25 an hour minimum wage to $15. It should be raised even higher. There's no excuse for any Democrat to oppose even such a modest increase.

Also, when as governor, Hassan opposed legalizing recreational marijuana. It never made sense for it to be illegal in the first place.

We often hear debates about whether Democrats need to go in a "moderate" or "progressive" direction.The use of these terms often is a way to avoid meaningful discussion of the issues. Medicare-for-all is often dismissed by "moderates" as "radical." Most of the developed world sees this as nothing more than the right of everyone to have the health care they deserve.

At a time when Republicans move further and further to the right, we need Democrats who stand for what Democrats are supposed to stand for. They must stop putting labels on good things as an excuse to not support them. Stop running "Democrats" who are nothing more than pre-authoritarian Republicans.

Richard Warren