Changes to national problems languish in uncompleted legislation

Posted

To the Editor:

This is in response to the well composed and thoughtful letter written a few weeks ago titled “Immigration and Civility.”

We do agree with several points the writer made.

Immigration is a very complex issue which recently has also become very divisive. As we said before, we are for legal immigration…but we also are for all people attempting to immigrate to be treated with fairness and, yes, civility.

To answer the writer’s question “why not work to change the immigration laws?”

We have. The U.S. House under Speaker Nancy Pelosi has sent over 60 bills to the Senate in the past year plus. Several of these of these were bills which address some aspects of the immigration issue. A quick search found HR 3239, HR 2203, HR 3625, HR 6, HR 3670, HR 3722.

Not that long ago bills sent by one branch of Congress to the other went into bipartisan committees to be worked on until they were acceptable to both sides.  That currently is not happening in the Senate. Mitch McConnell has let all these pieces of legislation sit on his desk without taking any action toward them. 

Besides immigration, there are a bills to lower prescription drug prices, to close the loopholes in gun background checks, to protect Americans with pre-existing conditions, to safeguard our water and natural resources, to extend flood insurance and more. To not consider any of these, in our opinion, is wrong.

There are two other points the writer made with which we have issue and they are abortion and health care.

All of the top Democrats are NOT “in favor of abortion any time, any place.”

No one wants widespread abortion. 

We all want it to be as rare as possible but also to be a choice which is safe and legal when a woman and her doctor determine it is needed…as it is now under the law.  Abortion has been around forever and no change in the current laws will stop it from happening…just make it unsafe.

We also wonder why those calling themselves pro life are not for ready access to affordable birth control and reproductive education to prevent the need for abortion. Also, pro-lifers seem to not be in favor of affordable child care, health care, and access to affordable food and services for families.

If only they cared as much for babies already born as they seem to for fetuses. 

If only they cared as much for women as they do for fetuses…then they would really be pro life.

Regarding health care, those who are currently on Medicare do seem very satisfied with it. And aren’t we glad that the Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic Congress gave us this program.

It was controversial but worked out well.

As to all Democrats being for a single payer system, that is also not a true statement. Some of our presidential candidates are, but there are several of those who are not. Some are for fixing the Affordable Care Act and expanding Medicaid for those who need it, while others of us can keep their current insurance if they like it. Our party is debating these issues.

At least Democrats have worked to address the inadequacies of our current health care system. The Republicans controlled the government for two years and did nothing. There is no one at the White House working on a health care plan. Instead the Trump administration is currently in court trying to end coverage of preexisting conditions and other aspects of the Affordable Care Act which are popular.

It is sad that we are having to have an impeachment inquiry. We urge all to watch the hearings with an open mind. It may end up being partisan…but we hope not.

We see possible crimes there — bribery, extortion, abuse of a powerful office, and a shadow foreign policy being run by the private attorney to the president. But not since the Civil War has our country been this divided. We get our news from sources which confirm our pre-held views instead of looking at both sides of an issue.

All of us are guilty of this.

At least here in Gasconade County, we can listen to each other. We thank this newspaper for promoting this. We thank you for listening to our views. 

We are excited to announce that now we have a website. According to voting records there are a couple thousand Gasconade County voters who have supported Democrat candidates. If you are interested in joining us or learning more about us click on https://www.gasconadedems.org/

If you use the donate button on our website all funds collected from now until Nov. 25 will go toward Operation Christmas!