Dems must link court fight, threat to ACA

Beginning Nov. 10, the Affordable Care Act risks possible annulment by the Supreme Court. Democrats, use the justice nomination hearings to flag what terrible consequences most Americans face from the loss of the ACA.

One particularly disastrous loss would be the elimination of ACA prohibitions of lifetime and annual limits on cumulative benefit payments. Before the ACA passed, tens of thousands of Americans annually would reach those limits and be unable to afford further necessary treatment. Many suffered bankruptcy from their medical costs even though they had nominally “good” insurance coverage when their medical problems began.

Similarly, limits on out- ofpocket costs, assured acceptance of people with preexisting conditions, coverage of

Hanson has no grasp of climate change risk

Victor Davis Hanson, in discussing the recent wildfires, misunderstands the scope of climate change when he blames the “epic droughts of 20132017” killing trees (“Civilization requires collective common sense for its existence,” Opinion section, Sept. 25).

What does he think caused the epic drought? Scientists have known since the 1850s that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. By 1900 they knew how much it affects temperature. In the 1970s, scientists recognized that increasing CO2 levels might be causing global warming. There was some initial uncertainty due to the normal weather fluctuations (exploited by climate deniers), but over the next three decades, average temperatures rose as predicted, and connect directly to more frequent and more severe storms, hurricanes, and yes, droughts.

Before Hanson dismisses scientific expertise, he should study the history of science; the dedication and discipline of thousands of well-trained scientists who have thoroughly debunked every piece of shoddy science that the fossil fuel industry has funded.