To the Editor:
Re “The
Rage Is Not About Health Care” (column, March 28):
Frank Rich cannot figure out why Republicans are so angry about the
newly minted health care bill. It resembles the bill signed into law by
a Republican governor in Massachusetts in 2006. Why the fuss?
Timothy Cahill, state treasurer of Massachusetts, explains why. The
Massachusetts plan is a “fiscal train wreck.” The law was initially
estimated to cost the taxpayer $88 million a year. The state’s health
care costs since 2006 now top $4 billion. MassCare has survived because
of federal bailouts, and Mr. Cahill sensibly wonders who will cover the
shortfall in the national plan when the costs inevitably exceed the
estimates of its advocates.
Supporters of the national bill are so terrified of these reasonable
concerns on the part of moderate conservatives (yes, we do exist) that
they go to great lengths to redefine our objections as something
sinister. We know they are not, and we won’t be disparaged into liking
this bill.
Maggie McGirr
Greenwich, Conn., March 28, 2010
To the Editor:
Frank Rich nails it. The madness that has engulfed the right would
have happened regardless of which subject matter had triumphed for the
Democrats: “The conjunction of a black president and a female speaker of
the House—topped off by a wise Latina on the Supreme Court and a
powerful gay Congressional committee chairman—would sow fears of
disenfranchisement among a dwindling and threatened minority in the
country no matter what policies were in play.”
The year 2008 represented more than just a rejection of a failed
conservative administration. It ushered in a new era of true equality
for minorities, an equality unfamiliar to the old-boys club and its
last-gasp effort at keeping that door shut. The fresh air is already in
evidence with the announcement of President Obama’s 15 recess
appointments.
Morris Roth
Fort Lee, N.J., March 28, 2010
Note from KBJ: Progressives don't get it. The Tea Party has nothing to do with President Obama, and certainly nothing to do with his skin color. It has everything to do with big spenders in Washington. These big spenders include whites as well as blacks and Republicans as well as Democrats. In a way, I hope progressives keep misunderstanding this movement. What say you?
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 