Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 352, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 20, 2017 Page: 4 of 20
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OPINION
4A
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Denton Record-Chronicle
Denton Record-Chronicle
Time to craft
workable
health care
Published by Denton Publishing Co.,
a subsidiary of A.H. Belo Corporation
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ASHINGTON — It wasn’t quite a
wicked-witch-is-dead Munchkin
happy dance, but the white noise
of foregone conclusions drowned out Re-
publicans’ relatively muted regret over their
failure to repeal and replace Obamacare.
It was never gonna happen. Not no how.
Partly this is because the GOP version of
reform would have first done harm to our
TRUMP-
CARE
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Bill Patterson
Publisher and CEO
Scott K. Parks
Managing Editor
Mark Finley
City Editor
Mariel Tarn-Ray
News Editor
PAST PUBLISHERS
William C. “Will” Edwards
1903-1927
Robert J. “Bob” Edwards
1927-1945
Riley Cross
1945-1970
Vivian Cross
1970-1986
Fred Patterson
1986-1999
A
most vulnerable citizens — the elderly, the
disabled and the poor.
Maine
«8§
Republican
Sen. Susan Collins cit-
Editorials published in the Denton Record-Chronicle
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ed drastic Medicaid
cuts as her reason for
withholding support of
the so-called “Better
Health Reconciliation
Act.” Kentucky Sen. L_
Rand Paul also said he
wouldn’t support the
bill, because it didn’t go
far enough in repealing
Obamacare.
When two more GOP senators — Mike
Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas —
defected Monday night, the deal was un-
done. Lee said the bill failed to repeal all of
the Obamacare taxes. He also said the bill
didn’t go far enough in lowering premiums
for middle-class families or in loosening
costly regulations.
Thus, the weeks-long tornado of hot tem-
pers and chill winds culminated Tuesday
morning when Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell realized he didn’t have
enough votes.
Health care is such a mind-numbing
boondoggle that one must take frequent
breaks from thinking about it. Therefore, let
us pause for a moment to applaud the rela-
tively unknown L. Frank Baum (1856-1919),
author of The Wonderful Wizard ofOz.
Neither the passage of time nor the con-
tempt usually bred by familiarity seems to
dim the popularity or the seemingly eternal
applications of his masterwork. In my expe-
rience as a columnist, I’ve found few issues,
characters or moments — whether writing
about Bill Clinton’s steamy White House en-
counters or McConnell’s bland ruminations
on regret — that don’t benefit from Baum’s
contextual frameworks.
There. Nowto yawn-inspiring health care
reform in all its failed foregone-ness.
During almost a decade of writing spo-
radically about health care in its various iter-
ations, I’ve interviewed dozens of people
from a mix of related fields — medical, busi-
ness, legislative and political. Not once have I
found a single person who thought the GOP
could pull off a repeal and replace. Why?
Firstly, because the vast majority of
Americans are fundamentally opposed to al-
lowing others to suffer. And secondly, sort of,
the ACA affects one-sixth of the U.S. econo-
my. How does one untangle a knot of 20 mil-
lion strings?
The fact is, Obamacare was never perfect
nor should anyone have expected it to be. To-
day, we have a health care system in pitiful
disrepair, as insurance companies opt out of
exchanges, premiums continue to climb, and
healthy, young people forgo insurance pre-
miums that would have subsidized coverage
for unhealthy Americans and the less fortu-
nate.
W,
~Mr,
w.
County Libertarian Party
offers another way
Kathleen
Parker
ahbelo.com NYSE symbol: AHC
olitics. With every passing election,
our elected officials (even the ones we
like) become more and more discon-
nected from us and our neighborhoods. The
trappings of a reality television show have re-
placed public service
on both sides of the
themselves. It’s time to govern the govern-
ment. Transparency, ethics and accountabil-
ity make up our primary agenda and that
goes a long way for voters.
Let’s take our property tax dispute pro-
Editorial: Our View
P
Bogus special session
could harm Texas
cess.
This review board has little to no public
information available on who the members
are or what qualifies them to make these
kinds of decisions. How can we have faith in
their numbers (which go up every year re-
gardless) without transparency to those who
oversee it?
This board of citizens settles disputes
against the tax rate, but no such board exists
for the initial valuation. This must change.
We want to ensure our local elected offi-
cials disclose profit or personal wealth gains
from taxpayer funded projects such as roads
or land development. If they fail to do so,
they should be held accountable just as any-
one else would for pulling a fast one on the
public. We will fight back against all secrecy
laws that allow loopholes for the abuse of of-
fice.
aisle, Democrat and
Republican.
It’s a clever show
that often doesn’t re-
present the voters, but
campaign donors and
millionaires instead.
Our
he special session of the Texas Legislature that
began Tuesday could end up costing taxpayers
more than $1 million.
The whole thing never should have happened.
Here’s how we got here.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is staking his ambition for higher
office on passing a so-called bathroom bill that dictates
which bathrooms — men’s or women’s — that transgen-
der men, women and children can use in schools and
other government-owned buildings.
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus wanted no part of the
bathroom bill, which singles out the transgender segment
of the LGBT community for discrimination. So he held
hostage Patrick’s pet project to dictate potty usage.
Patrick saw the train coming down the track during
the regular session and deep-sixed a bill to reauthorize
funding for the Texas Medical Board and other state
agencies. Those agencies must operate. Patrick’s strategy,
therefore, created the need for a special session to reau-
thorize the agencies.
Even though it was Gov. Greg Abbott who called the
special session, Patrick is the culprit who engineered it so
he could get another shot at passing his failed potty bill.
We feel like taking a shower to drench the stench ris-
ing from this kind of politics.
The Texas Constitution calls on the Legislature to meet
140 days in every odd-numbered year. The framers want-
ed lawmakers to come to Austin, pass a budget and get
out of town.
We like that model. When the Legislature meets too
often, it expands the opportunity to do mischief and dam-
age. The bogus special session now upon us proves the
point.
We know what Patrick has at stake. He wants to run
for governor or U.S. senator by demonstrating his hatred
for gays, lesbians and transgender people. He knows a
dark corner of Republicanism is still smarting over the
U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision legalizing gay mar-
riage. And he wants to be the guy who haters can depend
on to get some payback with the bathroom bill.
We will go to our graves believing the vast majority of
Texans would never buy into this political charade.
We applaud business leaders who are standing up to
Patrick and who have no desire to discriminate against a
small group of Texans trying to work out their gender
identity issues.
And we hope Straus, a moderate Republican, can hold
the line against the bathroom bill. Then, lawmakers can
go home after the special session and stop embarrassing
the great state of Texas.
T
■v" -
&L,
_
Robert
Gammon
GUEST COLUMN
governor,
whether you like him
or not, raised $33 mil-
lion to get elected. That
money came from ev-
ery comer of Texas, but largely from small
groups of very rich, powerful men. Who does
he serve?
There is another way. We are Texans after
all, and as such we are free-thinking, hard-
headed and principled people who for the
most part just want to be left alone.
An estimated 753,000 Texas citizens live
in Denton County, 463,074 of whom are
registered to vote. That sounds like a large
number, but in the last election only 64 per-
cent of those who were registered to vote,
did. The remaining 160,000-plus people
didn’t!
We support small local business and be-
lieve the benefits corporations receive from
local governments far exceed that of the
shop owner or hair dresser. If the biggest
businesses want our business, they should
have to compete like the rest.
We see taxes as non-voluntary and col-
lected without a choice. It’s our govern-
ment’s responsibility to keep them as low as
possible. We want every city in Denton
County to post budget information clearly,
displaying income sources and debt. In-
formed citizens, after all, hold the keys to a
functioning society.
Our law enforcement officers are far un-
derpaid and overworked and should not be
required to enforce laws already being en-
forced by other agencies.
Lastly, we believe Denton County gov-
ernment should have absolutely no involve-
ment or enforcement in support of regula-
tion of any matter that concerns personal re-
lationships and a citizen’s decision regarding
his or her own body.
It’s crazy what government thinks it
should have power over.
We are working to inform as many peo-
ple in Denton County as possible. We hold
community meetings at least once a month
and plan to have booths at several local
events throughout the year. We’ve been on
the Square protesting taxes and in the neigh-
borhoods passing out information.
The fight for liberty is never over. You can
find us on Facebook or our website. If you’re
the talking type, give us a call, fill out the info
form, or email. We’d love to talk to you!
ROBERT GAMMON lives in The Colo-
ny and is vice chairman of the Libertarian
Party of Denton County.
So, let’s put that in perspective. It’s as if
the entire populations of Denton and The
Colony didn’t vote at all.
We obviously don’t know exactly why, but
you can bet that if they are like any other Tex-
an, they certainly have an opinion. Maybe
they didn’t like their options. Maybe felt
their vote didn’t matter.
Maybe, it’s because they just didn’t care;
although, I doubt that.
A political party is defined as an alliance
of like-minded people who work together to
win elections. I serve as vice chairman of the
political party in Denton County that repre-
sents that “other” way I mentioned above —
the Libertarian Party.
We stand by one core principle: You and
only you know what’s best for you. Second,
we stand for a smaller role for government in
our lives.
This is how “it” was intended ... you
know, liberty and justice for all. We’re here to
elect “liberty-minded” candidates. We’re not
here to push a multi-billion-dollar national
agenda. In fact, the opposite.
We believe liberty starts and ends with
the individual. Our No. 1 goal is engaging
those who know there is something wrong
with politics today and giving them candi-
dates they can vote for and feel good about.
Some of what we can accomplish lies
within the government, the rest with voters
Therein lies the crux of the least solvable
problem inherent in such a gargantuan,
multifaceted overhaul: It denies, emphati-
cally, the nature part of being human, which
is in constant tension with government-
mandated insurance coverage. The central
question is: How do you make it cost-effec-
tive as well as fair?
Many Americans simply don’t see the
fairness in a system that requires them to pay
high premiums for others’ poor health, some
of which is, let’s face it, earned. Not deserved,
but sometimes resulting from poor lifestyle
choices. Why, indeed, should a single, child-
less 30-year-old male who runs three miles a
day, eats rationally, doesn’t drink, smoke or
take drugs, be saddled with premiums to
cover pregnancy, abortion, alcoholism, ad-
diction, or an abundance of health conse-
quences resulting from obesity and inertia?
For that matter, why should women have
to subsidize men’s sexual dysfunction cura-
tives when, by the way, men don’t have to po-
ny up for women’s corresponding, post-
menopausal, medically appropriate interces-
sions. Here you see one of the finer-print di-
lemmas. We’d rather force nuns to concede
tacit approval of abortion than insist that in-
surance subsidies be tied to healthy behav-
iors.
This day in history: July 20
Letters to the editor
Today is Thursday, July
20, the 201st day of 2017.
There are 164 days left in the
year.
In 1944, an attempt by a
group of German officials to as-
sassinate Adolf Hitler with a
bomb failed as the explosion on-
ly wounded the Nazi leader.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
was nominated for a fourth term
of office at the Democratic con-
vention in Chicago.
In1954, the Geneva Accords
divided Vietnam into northern
and southern entities.
In 1969, astronauts Neil
Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz”
Aldrin became the first men to
walk on the moon after reaching
the surface in their Apollo 11 lu-
nar module.
In 1976, America’s Viking 1
robot spacecraft made a success-
ful, first-ever landing on Mars.
In 1977, a flash flood hit
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, kill-
ing more than 80 people and
causing $350 million worth of
damage. The U.N. Security
Council voted to admit Vietnam
U.S. growth to suffer
China wants to make the 21st century the
Chinese century.
They are engaged in massive develop-
ment projects spanning dozens of countries.
They are building highways, railways, air-
ports, power plants, internet facilities and
seaports in these countries.
The potential trade from this effort may
exceed $2.5 trillion a year.
Unfortunately, President Trump’s protec-
tionist policies are helping China to replace
the U.S. as the global trade leader.
His abandonment of the Trans-Pacific
Partnership has left a void that China is go-
ing to fill.
Unless voters make their voices heard,
SUBMISSIONS
On July 20,1917, America’s
World War I draft lottery began
as Secretary of War Newton
Baker, wearing a blindfold,
reached into a glass bowl and
pulled out a capsule containing
the number 258 during a cere-
mony inside the Senate office
building. (The drawing of num-
bers by various officials contin-
ued until shortly after 2 a.m. the
next day.) The Corfu Declaration
called for creation of a unified
Letters for publication must include the writer’s
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Letters to the editor
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U.S. growth is going to suffer.
I’m sorry if this sounds heartless; the
brain calls it reality. No wonder Obamacare
was so difficult to craft and a replacement
equally so. There are simply too many mov-
ing parts to make the sucker float — and too
many reasons to not sink it.
Since McConnell’s repeal-only idea
seemed doomed Tuesday afternoon after
GOP Sens. Collins, Shelley Moore Capito
and lisa Murkowski said they oppose imme-
diate repeal, perhaps, finally, Republicans
and Democrats can snap on their wizard
hats and cobble something workable togeth-
er. After all, it’s the only thing they haven’t
tried yet.
KATHLEEN PARKER’S column is
distributed by Washington Post Writers
Group.
Yugoslav state.
In 1861, the Congress of the
Confederate States convened in
Richmond, Virginia.
In 1871, British Columbia
entered Confederation as a Ca-
nadian province.
In 1923, Mexican revolu-
tionary leader Pancho Villa was
assassinated by gunmen in Par-
Bob Michaelsen,
Denton
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ral.
to the world body.
In 1982, Irish Republican
Army bombs exploded in two
London parks, killing eight Brit-
ish soldiers, along with seven
horses belonging to the Queen’s
Household Cavalry.
In 1942, the first detach-
ment of the Women’s Army
Auxiliary Corps — later known
as WACs — began basic training
at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. The
Legion of Merit was established
by an Act of Congress.
— The Associated Press
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 352, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 20, 2017, newspaper, July 20, 2017; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1131785/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .