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July 28, 2017 06:23 AM UTC

A letter to Senator Gardner

  • 10 Comments
  • by: Republican 36

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Dear Senator Gardner:

Now that the “skinny repeal bill” lost on the Senate floor last night, what is your position on health care policy?

Before every vote on every repeal bill you have plead ignorance of what is or may be in the bill and therefore you didn’t know if you would vote for or against the various bills. You’ve taken that odd position even though you were a member of the group of 13 senators who crafted and wrote the bill supported by the majority leader. In essence, on the one hand you are deeply involved in writing the legislation but on the other you plead ignorance of what is in the bill. The time for you being both fully informed and completely ignorant is over.

It certainly appears the August recess will begin before the Senate passes a health care bill. You will have plenty of opportunities next month to meet with us, your constituents (You remember us – don’t you? We’re the ones who voted in 2014 to give you the privilege of serving us in the U.S. Senate) and ask us what we believe should be done about health care policy. Before that discussion begins, it is obvious through all the closed door meetings you attended on Obamacare repeal and the weeks of discussion across the nation, you certainly have specific ideas about how Obamacare should either be repealed or improved.

Here are a few ideas to focus our discussion:

  1. You’ve stated you want to make Medicaid financially sustainable but what do you mean by that? Do you plan to increase taxes to sustain the present program or do you intend to cut the program. If you intend to cut it, how much (specifically) do you intend to cut it and those people (constituents) who will no longer have health insurance how will they receive medical care?
  2. You have stated you don’t like the Obamacare mandate but how are you going to sustain our market based health insurance system without a mandate?
  3. Under many of the Republican plans, people over the age of 55 will see their premiums increase five fold over what young people pay instead of the two fold under Obamacare. Do you think that is a good idea? If not, why did you support it?
  4. And lets expand our discussion to Medicare. Do you support amending the existing law to allow Medicare to negotiate group prices for prescription drugs? If not, why not? Wouldn’t that save the government and your constituents at least hundreds of millions of dollars each year and make Medicare sustainable?

Those are just a few suggestions to get us started when you hold  town hall meetings. Please do not tell us you don’t know what may be in a subsequent bill so you don’t know whether you’ll vote for or against it. We know you don’t know what will be in a bill yet to be written but after all the recent debate (seven years worth) you certainly know specifically what you want the next bill to look like. We are respectfully asking you to tell us what you specifically support or oppose. What specific provisions do you want in a healthcare bill and why?

Everyone in Colorado is hoping you take the time during recess to talk with us.

Thank you.

Respectfully yours,

Your Constituents

Comments

10 thoughts on “A letter to Senator Gardner

  1. Dear Senator Gardner,

    Your constituents are not going  away. Locking them out of your offices, or hauling them off to be arrested, just makes you look like an arrogant dick. Is that the look you want?

    Admit that your approach of ignoring your people in favor of meeting with funders, lobbyists and Phillipine dictators who hate the United States is not working.

    You , McConnell, the Republican caucus – you gave it the old college try. We the American people would not buy 700 billion dollar cuts to Medicaid, leaving disabled people and elders homeless and without care. We would not buy defunding rural hospitals and nursing homes and school special education services.

    We would not buy kicking 50 million, nor 30 million, nor 22 million, nor even 16 million off of health insurance. No matter what pretty words you dressed it up in, we didn't buy it.

    Time to go back to substance over style, Mr. Gardner. Perhaps you already have your lobbyist gig lined up, and that's why you don't care to meet with your voters. But even so, you still have 2 1/2 years of legislating to go, unless you resign. 

    Make it count for something.

  2. Are you also expecting one of our pet trolls to produce a homework assignment? 

    Gardner is now on record voting for a bill that would raise insurance premiums 20%, kick 24 – 32 million people off insurance, and kill funding for women's health. 

    It was a five page bill scrawled on a napkin in the Senate cafeteria. Two of the pages were about Planned Parenthood.

     

    1. And as I understand what was being talked about, the 20% increase in premiums would be on TOP of whatever premiums are already scheduled for 2018 – which is an average of something like 25% in Colorado.

      So, 7% medical inflation, 18% for "uncertainty" in the Republican willingness to subsidize the program, and 20% for killing the individual and employer mandates.  Cory was backing a plan for good times, for sure.

  3. Good writing 36.  My lone quibble is if you are referring to Senator Gardner by his proper title than you should also refer to the referenced legislation by its proper title.

    I think Senator Gardner can dispense with the charade that he doesn't know how he is going to vote.  Everybody knows he will always vote to destroy any of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act whenever he gets a chance.

    The question for him now is what does he offer after his exclusive inclusion in the Gang of 13 and after years of reflection on what health care proposals conservatives such as he can offer as better alternatives.  The 'Skinny Repeal' wasn't it.

    The question of addressing bulk buying for prescription drugs is timely and relevant.  Perhaps Senator Gardner can consider the benefits of economies of scale for one of our biggest government programs.

    Republicans can either go full crazy at this point or reach out to Democrats for a truly bi-partisan effort.  Wouldn't that be a welcome change of conduct.  I'm not holding my breath but this is the best window of opportunity that we have  had in years.

      1. They aren't out of the woods yet.  Their Wealthcare package (AKA: Tax Code Reform) was dependent on freeing up hundreds of billions of dollars in providing healthcare coverage.  How are they going to justify tax cuts for those with the most when it will blow up the deficit.  They also will have the jitters about putting together more hyper-partisan pieces of legislation because they don't know if they have the iron clad votes.  The closer it gets to 2018, the bigger the possibility of defections if it is really a piece of shit legislation.  Republicans might have avoided putting the gun to their nuts last night but they are a long ways from proving they have a better plan for improving the lives of ordinary Americans.

  4. Dear Senator Gardner, 

    Ask yourself, please, WWMD*?  Then, do exactly the opposite.  Always.

    Love ya'!

    D

     

    (*What would Moderatus do?)

     

    PS. Alternatively you could read Republican 36's letter, and do as he suggests . . . 

    . . . but that “WWMD?”
     is bumper-sticker short and well suited to your chronic inability to decide anything. 

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