Again, Jim Fossel tries to equate the behavior of Democrats and Republicans, this time implying that Dems are hypocrites for considering a billionaire for president. That billionaire is Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (“JB Pritzker presents Democrats with an uncomfortable dilemma,” Nov. 23).

Fossel states, “Like Trump, Pritzker expanded his inherited wealth. Now, suddenly he’s potentially presidential material — all because he started out with financial advantage.”

However, I’d bet that if Gov. Pritzker did run for president, and lost, he wouldn’t proclaim the election stolen and encourage a deadly insurrection; nor, if he won, immediately release those violent insurrectionists back onto the streets to bolster a reign of intimidation and retribution aimed at members of Congress, the judiciary and his political foes.

Nor, I assume, would he show contempt for women, minorities and the working-class voters who put him in office, while treating the Constitution — the contract that protects our liberties — as a set of suggestions he can ignore at will.

Rather, Gov. Pritzker has used his office to balance the budget, improve pension funding, raise the minimum wage, make historic investments in infrastructure and workforce development and support clean energy expansion.

So, Democrats don’t really have an “uncomfortable dilemma.” Voting for a billionaire with a track record of improving the lives of his or her constituents should not arouse guilt, nor should asking billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes. This includes billionaires who would rather use their wealth to curry favor with corrupt politicians.

Melanie Lanctot
Readfield