John Sachs, a good friend and an old—and I do mean old (flies leave fresh dog poop just to follow us around) Ruston High School classmate (Class of 1961) is something of a political activist.
He learned well at his father’s knee. Dr. Tony Sachs, longtime head of the Louisiana Tech University Department of English had something of a liberal bent at a time when it was extremely unfashionable in north Louisiana, a trait he passed down to son John and daughter Elizabeth.
The word liberal has been turned into something nasty over the years but all it really implies is that its adherents believe that the poor that are entitled to the same rights as the rich, that people of color are entitled to the same protection under the law as whites, that women deserve the same opportunities—and pay—as men, that gays are entitled to the same consideration as straights, that the religious beliefs (or non-beliefs) are personal and should not be infringed upon, and that no one—NO ONE—should be deprived of his or her rights under the law.
In short, the liberal is rock steady in his support of non-discrimination in all areas of society—a resolve difficult to find in so-called conservatism, particularly of the Republican stripe.
After all, it is a document called the Declaration of Independence that proclaims:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…”
That brings us to the point of all this:
What gives Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan or anyone else the right to deny a dying child critical health care?
All those Republican members of the House and Senate who pay lip service to our military men and women but want to scrap Obamacare without a viable replacement are little better than pathological liars.
Let me explain.
Have you ever been to the Vietnam War Memorial Wall where the names of 58,000 Americans killed are inscribed? Well, there would be a lot more names had it not been for the Hmong, an ethnic tribe of the Golden Triangle of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar (formerly Burma).
The Hmong were America’s secret weapon. They protected our radar stations in Southeast Asia and rescued and cared for downed pilots. Without their assistance, many more Americans would have died in that terrible war.
After the war, many Hmong settled in the U.S. One particularly intelligent Hmong girl, a teenager, fell ill with a rare illness that was extremely expensive to treat. She lives in Minnesota and Obamacare got her the medical care she so desperately needed. With the scrapping of Obamacare, she loses her insurance and with a pre-existing condition, it will be cost-prohibitive to get insurance—if she can get it at all.
Thanks Mitch, thanks Trump and thanks John Kennedy.
The reason I single Kennedy out when all of Louisiana’s congressional delegation but Rep. Cedric Richmond, a New Orleans Democrat, voted to kill Obamacare, is that John Sachs wrote Kennedy to plead with him to consider all the ramifications of repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Of course, there was much wrong with the ACA but there are also weaknesses—glaring weaknesses—in our tax code, our sentencing guidelines for criminal acts, our campaign finance laws, and the laws enacted to protect American citizens from predatory Wall Street greed mongers, to name only a few. If there is a problem with a law, the duty of Congress is to address specific problem areas and pass bills to eliminate the flaws, not scrap the law in its entirety.
I have yet to see a single Republican member of the House or Senate rushing to tweak a tax code heavily weighted in favor of the wealthy, or advocating revamping the criminal code, or reining in Wall Street (to be completely fair, it was Obama’s own Attorney General Eric Holder who punted his responsibility to prosecute the criminal element that brought about the 2008 financial crash). And other than McCain-Feingold, there have been precious few attempts by either party to reform campaign finance laws.
After John Sachs sent his letter to Kennedy, this is the canned (but typical) response he received from Louisiana’s junior senator:
Thank you for contacting me in opposition to repealing the Affordable Care Act. I appreciate hearing from you.
Obamacare was sold as something that would provide millions of uninsured Americans with access to affordable healthcare. Unfortunately, Obamacare failed on those promises. Americans were promised lower health insurance premiums. In reality, premiums will increase by an average of 25 percent this year for the millions of Americans in the exchanges. Americans were promised “if you like your plan you can keep it.” What really happened is that 4.7 million Americans were kicked off their health care plans by Obamacare. Americans were also promised more choice when purchasing health insurance, but a large part of the country has only one insurer offering plans on the Obamacare exchanges. That’s not choice.
Americans deserve better. I am focused on repealing Obamacare and replacing it with personalized, patient-centered health care that will be affordable. Americans should not be forced to buy insurance they don’t like, don’t need, and cannot afford. I’m working to make sure they won’t have to for much longer.
As you know, the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act on May 4. Also, a draft Senate bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act, was released on June 22. I am carefully studying it in its entirety to see how it would impact Louisianans. As I am reviewing, I will be sure to keep your concerns in mind. Thanks again for writing.
If he is really that appreciative, why didn’t he conduct town hall meetings during a recent recess? Instead, he was nowhere to be found.
There’s no mistaking that Kennedy is in complete lockstep with Trump and that’s really strange. If you recall, Kennedy fought Bobby Jindal during Jindal’s entire eight-year reign of error, goading Jindal to cut contracts and repeating the mantra, “We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem.” And now we have Crump who is Jindal 2.0 and Kennedy practically wets his pants trying to make Grump happy. Witness Kennedy’s fawning over Betsy DeVos and Jeff Sessions during their confirmation hearings. DeVos was a horrible person to put in charge of educating our children and Sessions is a throwback to Southern demagogues Strom Thurmond and George Wallace.
Kennedy invokes the Chump mantra of 4.7 million Americans being kicked off their health care plans by Obamacare, yet he conveniently ignores the fact that McConnell’s plan would strip 23 million Americans of their healthcare.
How can Kennedy reconcile those numbers and still call himself an advocate of Louisiana citizens? Is this his idea of compassion?
Is he an intimidated, frightened, cowering little man afraid to stand up to the bully or is his behavior an indication of blind, unquestioning loyalty to Frump in the belief that it will enhance his own political career?
If the latter is the case, I would strongly suggest that Kennedy has misread the tea leaves and hitched his wagon not to a falling star but a plummeting one.
Louisiana Voice 
When I read Kennedy’s statement that “What really happened is that 4.7 million Americans were kicked off their health care plans by Obamacare” I shouted “But under Obamacare they were provided superior coverage at significantly more affordable rates.” Kennedy thinks that we are all rubes that can be led by our Fox News misinformation addled prejudices. Well Mr. Kennedy, no we are not.
In conclusion, I do subscribe to one instance of Repeal and Replace. I would dearly love to see Mr. Kennedy as our US Senator repealed and replaced.
John, at least you and JonTB got form letter responses. I got not even that from my letter on the subject – I did get one from Cassidy.
As I have said before, I’ve known John Kennedy since 1988. Whether he was or was not what he is today, I did not see him then as focused entirely on his own personal political career to the exclusion of everything else – what he clearly is today. I hope Tom is right and that he has hitched his wagon to the wrong star and that he will fall with him.
I received the same canned letter when I expressed my concern relative to repealing and replacing. I find that our Republican Senators and Congressmen couldn’t care less about what one of their constituents says when they sensibly and politely tell them they do not support what they are doing on the Hill.
“Is he an intimidated, frightened, cowering little man afraid to stand up to the bully or is his behavior thus far an indication of blind, unquestioning loyalty to Frump in the belief that it will enhance his own political career?” Yes, and yes.
“to a falling star named Trump”,,,not in Louisiana; Trump is as popular as ever..This is the land of the “Last of the Trumpians” (well, maybe Alabama has us beat). Yes, our junior Senator is an embarrassment, Did you see his grandstanding while questioning Christopher Wray? I think Kennedy is paving the road to the Gov’s house, and trust me, he will get there.
Rot simply stupid rot! All the Democrats do is pedal welfare to hold the poor in check so they will continue to vote for them! Hillary lost Get over it!
Hillary? Did Tom mention Hillary anywhere in his post? Uh, no he didn’t.
Perhaps youare at the wrong blog. Probably The Hayride or something of that ilk would be more suitable for you.
Amen, Fredster!!!
The default arguments by fervent Republicans when stumped for how to directly reply to explicit charges are: 1) “Hillary, Hillary, Hillary…” and 2) “Fake news, fake news, fake news…” sprinkled liberally [or is that not the best choice of adverbs?] with childish name-calling.
Makes NO matter if you are going to beat up on Trump your in the trash can with Hillary!
first of all, it’s you’re, not your. Your is the possessive form of you while you’re is the contraction for you are.
Second, that, sir, is an argument unworthy of an angry fourth-grader on the school playground. It’s that childish. It would be the same as saying, “If you are going to beat up on Hitler, you’re (see? that’s the correct form) in the trash can with Stalin.” Or, “If you’re going to defend the rights of gays, blacks, and women, you must be a gay black woman.”
I guess it would be akin to saying, If I’m going to beat up on some ignorant, narrow-minded, brainwashed argument—like yours (again, the correct form)—then I’m in the trash can with intelligent, informed, open-minded people who are capable of thinking for themselves.
And in that case, I guess you’d be correct.
Thank ye Stephen! 🙂
If you can’t think for yourself, Louisiana Voice seems to be a great place to visit to get your dose of opinions regarding the sacred liberal Democrats point of view.
Then why are you here?
The whole situation has gotten out of hand and we can’t fix it. We cannot undo the abuse of Medicare and Medicaid and if we take it away we will have a civil war. Too many have been on the gravy train for too long. Too many young people are receiving services when they should be working. These services provided do not encourage them to get a job because if they would, they could not make enough at minimum wage to afford all the free stuff they’re getting. We should have nipped this abuse in the bud a long time ago but its too late. Along with the hand outs, we have become very accepting of the new standards and values that society has acquired today. There is no respect for anyone or anything. We are truly in a spoiled system and we are a snow ball going to hell very quickly. God help us! You can’t blame everything on Trump. By God, he has to start somewhere and no matter what he does, it won’t be the right thing because no one will work with him to make it right. Who in the hell is going to pay for all the hand outs in 15 yrs. from now? I know I’ll be dead and the next generation will be a big part on the receiving end of these services. Who’s gonna support them? If we don’t get our stuff straight now, we’ll be in a hell of a fix later; rather, our children and grandchildren will be in a hell of a fix….at least those of a small group who will be working for a living and paying taxes.
You have done a really good job articulating your position and I think your frustration and that of many of President Trump’s supporters. My only question is: What, exactly, do you expect Trump to do about these things and what do you view as the acceptable collateral damage? I think we all agree that, despite the major reforms enacted under Democratic President William Jefferson Clinton (how could that be possible since we all know he is not only a liberal, but a freak, to boot) work remains to be done.
In my opinion, a lot of the work that needs to be done is reform in the administration of the programs enacted to help the poor. Every week, at least, we read about big-ticket fraud and corruption by the PROVIDERS of social and medical services fueled by greed and enabled by apparent flaws in oversight. Rather than vilify the people these programs are intended to help, how about we lock more of these people up and get as much of the money they have bilked us out of as possible? And, how about we fire some of the bureaucrats responsible for administering and overseeing these programs (on both the provider and recipient sides) and find people willing to do so?
I guess those elderly folks have been abusing Medicare. As for Medicaid, you need to focus on the fraud committed by the greedy doctors, through over billing. By the way, one of my sons works at one of those minimum wage jobs and without Medicaid he would not be able to provide his, soon to be three-year old, with medical coverage. Also, his employer does not provide health insurance and he does not make enough to pay for health insurance. However, he was able to get health insurance under Obamacare. “Too many young people are receiving services when they should be working.” What services are you talking about?
Good reply clifford. I was also going to ask about the “abuse?” of medicare since in most cases folks have paid their share of taxes to be eligible for medicare and secondly you don’t get it (again in most cases) until aged 65.
The only “abuses” of medicare I’ve read of are the ones where unscrupulous doctors or health agencies dummy up phony claims to submit for payment. Some of them get caught but not enough of them.
My reference to ” young people on Medicaid should be working” meant that there are recipients of Medicaid who do not work at all, period! I’m very much in favor of helping someone who goes to work at a minimum wage job and gets help for health coverage. I do not, however, believe in enabling those who generation after generation continue to live on Medicaid, food stamps, etc. while getting free rent, free or reduced utilities, and paid telephone services with no intention of getting a job. Really, it doesn’t pay for them to work when they can get all of these services and stay at home. Believe me this situation does exist. Take your head out of the sand!
In reference to Medicare fraud, there is fraud. I am on Medicare and I worked for the opportunity to be on the program. I do not put my head in the sand and believe that there are not millions of dollars wasted in this program thru abuse of services. Think of all the money that would be saved if we could round them all up and stop the abuse. There are a lot of greedy people out there. They arrested some this week and there are a lot more to uncover in fraudulent practices. I thank the Attorney General for the hard work his department has done regarding this matter.
Carmen, I agree that in some instances it seems as though public housing units are passed down from generation to generation. That appears to me to be an abuse of the system, if that is the case. However, I just reviewed the qualifications to receive Medicaid and Section 8 housing, in both instances there are income or resources requirements. Of course, there are no income requirements for children under 19 to receive Medicaid. As for Section 8 housing, most of the people who qualify are female and as such are not suppose to have a healthy adult male living with them. As for food stamps, now called SNAP, unless you are a parent of one or more children, who are living with you, you will not receive food stamps. There are income exemptions for people receiving other forms of benefits and the elderly. However, I guarantee that you will not see an unemployed young black male with a SNAP benefit card in his name. Carmen, I would ask that you pay more attention to “corporate welfare”. It has been shown, reported, written, and testified to, that the state gives away more revenue through tax credits, tax exemptions, and incentive programs that what the state takes in. I have came to grips with the fact that as a middle-income taxpayer in this country, like you. my taxes will be used to help a segment of society that needs our help. That segment of society exists in every country in this world. Yes, there are those who are abusing the system, but, I depend upon our government officials to find and weed out the abusers. Just as I depend upon those same officials to stem the tide of corporate welfare.
Carmen, I wholeheartedly agree with Clifford.
I think your focus on abuse should definitely shift to the people actually making money from these programs. You say:
“I thank the Attorney General for the hard work his department has done regarding this matter.”
You do realize the unit to which you refer and which doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the good work it has done for decades, investigates PROVIDERS of services not recipients, don’t you? Generally speaking the PROVIDERS they work to prosecute file claims for services they never provided and/or for services that were not needed. Several pharmacists have been prosecuted for re-packaging partially used prescription drugs to enhance profits at the government’s (i. e., your) expense. The list goes on and on and you will note each person caught by the AG has bilked us out of millions of dollars. There was a cardiologist in Lafayette who was doing heart surgeries that were UNNECESSARY – Think about it – not only was he doing these surgeries to feed his own greed, but he was endangering the lives of every person he did them on.
I’m not saying there are not people who game the system nor that they should not be punished, but the real money is in fraudulent claims filed by PROVIDERS, not recipients.
Kennedy is pretty much diaper Dave without the diaper
Kennedy is only interested in staying in office along with the entire Republican delegation.
There doesn’t seem to be a free thinker among this group and that is bad for all of Louisiana.
As millions of Americans lose healthcare the Republicans have begun the message that it’s the fault of the liberal left, especially President Obama.
Louisiana will bite and swallow this message with vitality. As a matter of fact Louisiana will be joined by the under educated and faith based entire southern states.
A few years back Bob Mann did a best and worst politicians in Louisiana. I remember a number of people, including myself, suggesting that Kennedy be put at the top of the “best” list for his standing up to Jindal. What a terrible change of position he has had.
Thanks for your letter, John. Although I am far removed from Louisiana politics, the mantra of republican supporters is the same everywhere. Blame the poor, the abusers of government programs, foreigners, Obama, each other….
The familiar refrain of how with Obamacare citizens saw increases in premiums or were kicked off healthcare entirely is perpetrated by the insurance lobby itself, who saw their payoffs suffer. Democrats would have preferred a single-payer plan that would have cut them out and given everyone healthcare at a low cost, but to appease the right, the insurance collectives were included in the bill. When will people wake up? When will we have leaders that work for citizens as they are supposed to do again? It is very disheartening……what has happened to our values?
Looking at healthcare and funding sources available to our leaders.
Erasing the ACA and starting over is insane. It’s established and working and has problems that need fixing. Seems better to focus on a goal of healthcare access for everyone ( Trump’s Promise ) and then determine how it will be funded – fairly – by Americans. Identify specific issues and plan for resolution.
How much could be offset by declaring that countries are on their own financially and that those which have been at war for eons must pay for their own battles?
Every time the military flag officers testify before congress, the common – recurring – refrain is the need for more troops and more funding to train the locals.
Think! Has anyone been told the approximate number of individuals in the mideast that have been enlisted and trained to serve their own countries for the last fifteen plus years? Where are these soldiers hiding?
BTW, as our soldiers are maimed and killed, the Afghans are allowed to grow Opium crops which in turn fund 90% of IS and other bad guys. Does Trump or the DoD reveal how many Americans and its allies’ citizens’ have died in the past 12-months as a direct result of Afghan heroin?
It’s hard fighting the drug cartels south of the border in jungles… In Afghan territory all crops are visible. How long would it take a few of our A10 Warthogs to eradicate the source – if allowed – by the president? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtLYe21hbu4
READ THIS: A good analysis of countries that provide free healthcare for everyone! http://theatln.tc/2liIFFL
Sorry, but the only important thing is getting re-elected!!!
Bob Mhoon
I also emailed Senator Kennedy, but he did not respond to it. Typical of most legislators, he follows political lines without regard to what his constituents need or want. I am sorely disappointed in Mr. Kennedy and would happily take my vote for him back.
Interesting comments all. Back in 2009, when the ACA first poked it’s head out of the depths of the bowels of the entrenched elites of DC, I wrote then Senator Landrieu, then Rep. Melancon, and then Sec of Health Sebelius and asked for specifics of the proposed legislation. Melancon had no reply, Landrieu and Sebelius replied with nothing but vague allusions of grandeur with no substance nor detail. I asked why we could not pass a law that allowed health insurance providers to cross state lines, allows for individuals to carry pre-existing conditions from one insurance company to another one when that individual changes jobs, includes tort reform, and addresses illegal aliens cost to the United States health care system? Why were they pushing this 1,000 page leviathan of legislation without due process which would and did put government in charge of health care? Well from my point of view it was done to help usher in universal healthcare. Regardless, ACA is going bankrupt, choices are drastically less than before, and costs have risen 20 to 40% a year. Cry wolf all you want, but please get rid of this mess and get back to a market based system with the changes we want. Get the governments heel off of Catholic and charity hospitals. Get back to the basis of subsidiarity and get government out of health care. Regardless of what the left propagandizes the ACA is all about health coverage not care.
You are clearly well-informed. However, the market-based system simply does not work for healthcare. Profit should not be the main goal of any healthcare system. Healthcare should be, for many reasons, including those that are purely human. Clearly, profit is most important for most of our providers, be it through corporate or individual means.
Our healthcare is the most expensive in the world and yet among the least effective – and you cannot blame this on the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act has, in my and others’ opinions, actually slowed down the medical inflation rate. President Obama let the Republicans dupe him into accepting the Affordable Care Act under the very premise you cite – convincing him it was his only shot at expanding healthcare to many of those without it. Having so duped him, they then immediately started attacking him and calling it Obamacare – ignoring the fact they enacted it.
The simplest answer for us, at this point, is to go with universal healthcare based on the Medicare model (believe it or not, Medicare is a relatively efficient system) supplemented by private insurance with full coverage for those who cannot afford the private supplemental insurance. We would not have to reinvent the wheel since Medicare has been in operation for decades and we would not have to create the elaborate system you seem to be proposing – a system where somebody profits every step of the way.
I know you will not agree and can offer many reasons I am wrong, but people can’t agree on everything and that is the reason we have such a ridiculous system of health care financing – one that existed long before anybody even heard of Barack Obama.
And please, while we’re discussing the escalating costs of Medicare/Medicaid, let us not forget that it was our very own Billy Tauzin who, as one of his last acts as a member of Congress, negotiated the bill that prohibited Medicare/Medicaid from negotiating the costs of prescription drugs.
His next act? Accepting a $2 million-a-year job as the top lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry.