Saving Our
Dignity
The Republican leadership in Congress has been warning us that Obamacare would force unwanted things down our throat. Well, now that the bill is passed, it is no longer a threat. It is a reality, but there are things that opponents of this program can do. We might not be able to repeal the act but we can take personal principled actions to protect our family from the evils of this bill. Such actions can be:
· If you are a small business and get a tax break to pay for health insurance for your employees, you can write a check to the U.S. Treasury and return that tax saving.
· If your insurance company now has to provide preventive exams such as mammograms, blood pressure tests or prostate exams, for free, you can refuse to take advantage of those benefits and maybe die earlier but with your head held high.
· If your insurance company makes it possible for a child to stay on your policy during their college years, you can figure out how much that saves you and return that money to the Treasury.
· If your insurance company, under this “takeover of our healthcare system,” has to continue paying benefits long after your present policy would cut you off, you can always return the money saved.
You get the picture. As individuals, we cannot keep Congress from doing things we do not like, but what we can do is not participate in the evil. It’s like the decision millions of Americans made after Prohibition was repealed. Drinking alcohol was now legalized. They did not agree with Congress. So what did they do? Go out and get drunk because the Congress said it was legal? No! They just continued to refuse to drink. That’s what principled conservatives can do. If we don’t like the benefits: we don’t use them! If the money saved or tax reductions violate our principles of freedom; we send them back! We do not have to take this sitting down! Congress has filled the trough; nobody is holding a gun to our head forcing us to drink!
Stephen L. Love
3920 Sleepy Ln
Dallas, TX 75229
What's behind the loss - Published in DMN, October 10th
Re: "Wearing disdain with pride -- The IOC's snubbing of Chicago
was Bush's fault, Mark Davis says proudly, Wednesday
Viewpoints.
Davis' explanation for the loss of the 2016 Summer
Olympics is that America is just not liked because we are fighting a war against
terror -- the world hates us because we have not driven a stake through our
economy on the altar of false climate-change panic. They hate us because of our
wealth and our liberty. Why not give space to thoughtful columnists who at least
try to find the real issues behind a story?
National Public Radio and the Associated Press have run stories about the leadership of the U.S. Olympic Committee, which will have its sixth leader in nine years, leading to an inability to secure close ties with the International Olympic Committee voting members. There also are problems of revenue-sharing between the IOC and USOC, and the USOC botched the introduction of its TV network, drawing criticism from the IOC.
But then, I guess it is just so much easier for Davis to make knee-jerk accusations that bear little or no relationship to the real story.
The summer that
politics ruined
Submitted to DMN on October 7th, 2009
In 1988 I moved to
This was the start of a love affair that I have had with the
city of
I have dedicated many hours working with community groups to
keep this city at its best and stepped in where I saw things that needed to be
done. I have been to my share of Council
meetings, hearings and task forces that were often heated but there was always
the goal of making
But this summer something changed that has scared me and makes me cry for my city. I attended a few Congressional Town Hall meetings with members of Dallas US Congressional Delegation during their summer recess. The violent anger and outburst of hostility displayed by the attending audience members was so upsetting and worked against any goals of progress. At my first meeting I ended up trembling having to hear some of the remarks that were launched from one member of the audience to the other.
Has politics ruined this friendly place that welcomed me
into my adult years, the place that I have worked so hard to keep moving
forward? We all need the political
process as much as it maybe the bain of our existence as it is our system of
checks and balances. But, when it comes
to people launching personal insults and profanity across a crowded room at
others that they do not even know that process has become badly broken. We all need to sit down and take a deep breath
and calmly remember that we are all neighbors in the first place. “Agree
to disagree” is worth a lot when you need to get something done, and that is
what we need to do. We need to get some things done. And, we need to get
Sessions/Johnson Health Care Debate
Sent to Dallas Morning New, August 18th, 2009
|
Ah,
civility. WFAA reported, correctly,
that the discussion between Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and Pete
Sessions at the health reform debate on Monday was a civil event.
The anti-health reform protesters were another story. No
civility there. That said, Mr. Sessions seems
to speak from a position of confidence typically shared by those with sufficient
income and top quality health insurance. He seemed to take the
position that those of us who cannot afford health coverage are somehow not
living our lives correctly and should have health savings accounts.
And that the free market system will manage all inequities.
Really? What is not reported is the
rage and indignation that most of us feel about the blind spots demonstrated by
Mr. Sessions and others who use his same talking points. When
insurance premiums can account for up to one-fifth of an average monthly budget,
where is the peace of mind in that? This is, arguably, the most
important moral issue since civil rights and to deny hard-working, middle class
people a reasonable public option is to define democracy and justice as grand
ideas available only to those who can afford it.
Molly Hanchey The Progressive Center of Texas |
Sessions/Johnson Health Care Dialog
To The Editors of the Dallas Morning News:
Monday's health care debate between Representatives Pete Sessions and Eddie Bernice Johnson was most interesting: a contrast between one who "gets it" and one who clearly does not. If the effort of the health care reform movement is to lower costs and provide quality, affordable health insurance for all Americans, then Congressman Pete Sessions is clearly not on the board with true reform. Whereas Eddie Bernice Johnson is.
Congressman Sessions spent most of his time voicing his opposition to both a public option as well as federal subsidies for a co-op plan. His "solutions"? A fantasy that Americans could buy insurance with "pre-tax dollars" and create their own health savings accounts. How does this reform health care? These plans leave the health insurance agency in the same position they are today, with all the power.
I offer myself as an example: I am employed full-time without health care, I make slightly below what is considered a "living wage" for a single, childless person, which is $8.83 an hour. I can not afford private insurance right now- it's just too expensive. As long as the insurance agencies face no competition that would force them to lower their prices, lower their costs then most working people would not be able to afford insurance. Pete Sessions, like most Republicans, offers no solutions- in fact he's just out of touch.
David Elliott
Dallas, TX
Pete Sessions' Town Hall Meeting
Submitted to Dallas Morning News by Lenna Webb, 8/7/2009
I was among the standing room only crowd at the Town Hall Meeting Pete Sessions held last Thursday. I would like to compliment Congressman Sessions on his ATTEMPTS to keep things civil. However, anyone expressing an opinion contrary to the party line offered by the Congressman was met with boos and derogatory remarks. There is video of my being called a “bitch” and told to “go to hell” after expressing pro health care reform sentiment and challenging statements made by the Congressman. What is discouraging is that Congressman Sessions declared out front that he would vote no on Health Care Reform. If so, why bother to hear from your constituents if your mind is already closed. In addition he is perpetuating distortions about what is actually being proposed. I challenge the DMN to refute some of the more outrageous claims being made, such as were expressed in a sign reading “Euthanize ObamaCare, not our seniors”. I can assure you, people at this meeting actually believe seniors will be forced into end of life decisions equating to euthanasia and it is the responsibility of the only widely read paper in town to refute this kind of fear mongering.
Voter ID Bill
Submitted to Dallas Morning News by Janice Schwarz recently
Michael Hopkovitz in his recent Op-Ed in favor of Voter ID Law notes “Obtaining a photo ID may be an inconvenience to some”. Mr. Hopkovitz and his fellow Republicans know who the “some” are. They tend to vote Democratic which is the true reason behind this bill. It was so important to the Republicans that they voted to change the State Senate rules only for this one issue. Mr. Hopkovitz makes it sound like it is easy to get state photo ID. He failed to mention the costs and difficulty of getting an original birth certificate. There are elderly Americans who were born at home and do not have a birth certificate. The Voter ID’s purpose is strictly to suppress votes from the poor, elderly, women and disabled who are less likely to have a state photo ID and more likely to vote Democratic.
Greed, Fairness, Moral or Ethical
From Lenna Webb, March 15, 2009
I had a conversation recently with a very wealthy man who
was bemoaning his stock market losses and that the stimulus package contains no
help for him. My question to him was “Do you need help?” He replied, “It doesn’t matter about whether I need it or not, it is about what is
fair.” I try not to engage in
political discussions with this man (he is a very conservative Republican,
surprise, surprise) but could not contain myself faced with his position which
seems to reflect what we hear on the news and talk radio these days.
Trying not to get too hostile, I replied that it is not about what is fair, but what is
moral and ethical. Individually and
corporately the attitude that got us into this mess has been the concern of “what is in it for me?” Forget about the Judeo/Christian foundations
of helping the less fortunate and treating others in a manner you would wish to
be treated. Instead we have greed!
Greed was behind the shipment of tainted peanut butter
products which caused hundreds to get sick.
Maximizing profits was behind the shipment of life-sustaining syringes
before they were sterile which lead to the death of five and the illness of
hundreds, including 20 patients at Children’s
Where is the compassion for people who have lost their jobs
and have already or are in danger of losing their homes through no fault of
their own? In many cases, predatory
lending practices and out and out fraud lured the unlucky and less
sophisticated into mortgages that they cannot now pay. What do we do? Kick people out on the street? Children, elderly, sick and healthy alike..
too bad. Pay the price! As long as I have mine!
