July 25, 2017
Although I am a very Blue democrat who often stridently disagrees with many of your positions, I have always retained a deep affection for you and your experience. I also commend your staff. For while we may disagree on direction, I know that you and your staff work very hard for the state of Arizona and the country. In early Fall 2007, I extended an invitation to you and your wife to share a dinner with us at our modest Bay Area home to obtain a more personal impression of your views on a number of national issues. Perhaps if you had followed up on my invitation, a different portrait may now be hanging at an address on Pennsylvania Avenue.
It is difficult for me to understand your position on the ACA. There have been several flip-flops over your political career. The latest major flip-flop is your decision to vote ‘yes’ to carry on debate over the ACA. You know continuing to oppose the ACA will severely affect the lives of millions of you fellow citizens. You claimed that you wanted a return to “regular” order, but this “yes” vote means just the opposite. Healthcare for millions is complicated and requires careful discussion and analysis. For a short example, there is no discussion on how to reign in soaring health delivery costs when healthcare executives are seeing record salaries. What exactly did your sacrifice in Vietnam mean that you would instill pain upon your fellow citizens? Arguments about the burden of the individual mandate are really superficial – the burden of some hundreds or even thousands of extra dollars a year versus the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands medical procedures cost. A single IVIG treatment can cost $20,000. Your recent surgery, if paid out without adequate insurance, would soon bankrupt most families. Please be a patriot again. Finish on the top side, the good side, of your legacy.
© 2017, Kenneth Koziol. All rights reserved.