Brown’s win doesn’t mean health reform not wanted

People wanted real healthcare reform, not the mess that finally ended up coming out of the Senate. Wean yourself off Fox News because you are losing your grasp of how real people feel about reform. They wanted more than what the final product Congress is offering.

Cincinnati
 

Stupid  to play nice with Republicans

From Marie Harris

Pseudo-Democrats like Lanny Davis (and Sen. Joe Lieberman, et al.) are the reason the Democrats are failing in this year when they should be successful. Democrats who think they can play nice with Republicans and win their votes are — in a word — stupid. Republicans toy with Democrats, who make fools of themselves in obsequiousness, and then move the goal posts.

Lanny is out of touch with Democrats around the nation, and to arrogantly, pompously blame the “left” for Democratic failures demonstrates the error of his thinking. We need more progressive Democrats, more liberal Democrats — we have too many Republican-lite Democrats who are killing the party.

Bartlett, Ill.

Keep the public option

From Diann Woodard, national president, American Federation of School Administrators

The Jan. 19 article “Dem leaders scramble to save healthcare reform after Brown win,” outlines possible strategies for passing healthcare reform legislation. 

Whatever the House and Senate choose to implement, it is imperative they do not abandon the core principles of genuine healthcare reform.

Healthcare reform must provide public access to healthcare. Healthcare reform must include real competition via a public option. Healthcare reform must hold insurance companies accountable.

The House healthcare legislation meets these benchmarks and should serve as a model for reform.

We applaud both the House and Senate bills for increasing the possibility for more people to obtain healthcare coverage and for ending some of the most egregious insurance company abuses. However, we are very concerned that the Senate proposal is financed by an unfair tax on working families.

There is no evidence that a tax on worker’s premiums will bring down healthcare spending. In fact, it may actually force consumers to delay care, resulting in increased future costs. Furthermore, this kind of tax would cause higher premiums, increase out-of-pocket expenses, reduce coverage, and would adversely affect the most vulnerable workers — workers in small firms; workers in firms with sicker employees; and workers in firms with older employees. An election in Massachusetts has not changed the fact that Americans need real healthcare reform, and we urge members of Congress to deliver.

Washington