Democrats aren’t ramming health-care reform through
In his March 6 column, Charles Krauthammer tries to muddy the waters by airing the latest Republican talking points [“Ramming Obamacare through,” Opinion]. You can spot their message discipline by now: How many times have you heard the phrase “ramming through” recently?
The Democrats are not trying to “ram through” health-care reform by some undemocratic process. They already passed it by the regular process when both houses of Congress passed health-care bills recently.
Two bills passed by regular rules and with minor differences. In the Senate, it got 60 votes — a huge margin in Senate terms. That’s bigger than the Bush tax cuts or Medicare Part D — all of which were passed using “reconciliation,” which Republicans then called “majority rules.”
Krauthammer trotted out other familiar obfuscations. But the facts are: Of the majority opposed to the current bill, almost half are opposed because it doesn’t go far enough. The public option still polls in the high 60s, despite all the lies told about it. This is not a “government takeover” — can Krauthammer remember how long the idea of Medicare For All lasted?
Let’s just call out the hypocrisies and misdirections for what they are.
— David Brooks, Redmond
No effective Republican solution
The Republicans did make a few worthwhile suggestions in the “summit” debate, but they were really only minor. They suggested no effective way to reduce the number of people without health insurance, which — for anyone who has even a modicum of sympathy for individuals who through no fault of their own don’t have coverage — is the crux of the matter.
In fact, what the Republicans have suggested would probably increase the number of uninsured. Charles Krauthammer’s statement that the “Republicans did so well” can only be viewed as truthful if one compares their performance with what we had every reason to expect: a continuation of their mindless obstructionism.
Krauthammer goes on to talk about the cost of Obama’s scheme and quotes Warren Buffett. Since when was Buffett an expert on the country’s health program? In all the talk about cost, the projected amount is not compared with what it will cost us over the next 10 years if we don’t rein in the current annual rate of increase.
Moreover, the mess we’re in wouldn’t be half as bad if the Republicans hadn’t spent billions on an unnecessary war and cut taxes for the wealthy — and both came about through “budget reconciliation” — and was gently done, of course, unlike Krauthammer’s description of the ramming by Obama.
— Philip S. Spiers, Bellevue
Let them eat ice cream
Charles Krauthammer likens providing access to basic health care for all Americans to the government giving free ice cream, steak and flowers to its citizens. Last I heard, no one died prematurely because of lack of flowers or declared bankruptcy because of the inadequacy of their ice-cream allotment.
Following Krauthammer’s thinking, I suppose educating children of families who cannot afford private school is akin to giving free chocolate bars to the masses. Let’s not forget police protection for neighborhoods that don’t have gates and private guards — that’s just like providing free Champagne!
I don’t want free ice cream, steak or flowers. I just want a basic health-care system that doesn’t disappear when I change jobs, is affordable to the average worker and isn’t canceled because I get sick. It’s time for a change.
— Karen N. Gielen, Seattle