Letters

GOP bills would destroy health insurance market

Dear Editor: I applaud Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, of New York, in opposing the Senate health care bill just produced by a closed-door panel of Republican senators.

First, no bill produced in secret and in haste can reform a sector that affects so many people, so many interest groups, and such a large segment of the economy.

Second, the Senate bill starts from the appalling House draft. The House bill disregards the health care needs of low-income people. It ignores the additional needs of the elderly. It would deny coverage to many people with pre-existing conditions. It disregards women’s reproductive health and other special health care needs. It would put health care out of reach for many middle-income Americans.

The House bill would “save taxpayers money” — if they were already rich. For ordinary Americans, any gains from lower taxes would be eaten up by the rocketing cost of health care.

Before the election, Obamacare was working well enough to keep down the overall cost of health care. Even now, Obamacare could be fixed by increasing subsidies for middle-income families, keeping their outlays down and encouraging insurers to stay in the market.

The move to repeal Obamacare has already created chaos in the insurance market; the replacement proposed by Congress would destroy the market entirely. Obamacare is a step on the path toward universal health care. The House bill and the Senate offering aren’t just a step backward, they blow up the road.

Alex Marshall, Olivebridge

Saudi Arabia, Israel also influence our elections

Dear Editor, Oh, how the Democrats hate the Russians. The Russians caused them to lose the election. It wasn’t because Hillary was so cozy with the banks, the oil companies and the rest of the billionaire lobby. Focus on how the Russians are coming and forget the rest.

If the Democratic Party was really worried about foreign countries influencing the election, it could start with Saudi Arabia, which gave $10 million to Hillary before her campaign. For that tidy sum, the Saudis were given a huge military weapons deal, enabling them to bomb their neighbor, Yemen, back to the Stone Age. It makes no difference that Saudi Arabia regularly beheads opposition bloggers and continues to support extremist ideology.

And then there is the political influence of Israel. Millions of Zionist dollars pour into our political process, enabling this lobby to control both parties.

Congress and the president routinely celebrate the most vicious attacks on Palestinian civilians, like the killing of over 500 children during the most recent slaughter in Gaza. Congress excused these war crimes as Israel’s right to “defend itself.”

The Israel lobby also funds racist hate groups in the United States. The David Project has extended this intimidation to college students supporting Palestine. New laws are being passed making the boycotting of apartheid products a crime. There is no more insidious foreign influence on our elections than the Israel lobby.

Fred Nagel, Rhinebeck