Make our own choices
I read French Hill's attempt to explain his malicious votes on health care with great interest and just a tad bit of amusement.
Those of us who have made efforts to talk with him about matters of concern to us are all too aware that he is highly skilled at hunkering down in his bunker or hidey holes in order to avoid all the peasants, disabled citizens, elderly and unruly women who reside in his district.
If Mr. Hill had made himself available to constituents in the 2nd Congressional District on a regular basis in his office, town-hall meetings, visits out into the district and other gatherings of ordinary voters instead of speaking to us through bankers, chambers of commerce, his staff and corporations, perhaps he wouldn't have felt it necessary to address us through a public letter to the editor.
Most of us know how harmful his votes have been to all of us. One phrase in his letter was of particular interest to pro-choice voters such as I am. He wrote, "I voted to put health decisions back in the hands of patients and their doctors."
Really? Can we interpret this to mean that Mr. Hill now supports a woman's right to make her own choices about her body and that he will do everything within his power to restore funds to Planned Parenthood?
I, for one, am ready for a change.
LEE JONES
Little Rock
Delights only his base
It seems Trump's trade-war tariff fiasco with China is yet another episode in his white supremacist racist mindset. He continues to stick it to black and brown people, and now he's putting his foot on the face of yellow people. His blatant racism, which lurks in the forefront of his reality, continues to delight his dwindling 30 percent base.
JACK ALBERT
Eureka Springs
We've lost the dream
The American dream has always been to own your own home. Life in America has been sustained by this dream. In this arena, the rich and the very poor are dangerous classes because both poverty and excessive wealth threaten homes.
The gap between rich and poor in America is widening and is probably wider than ever before. The three pillars undergirding America have always been a living wage big enough to own a home, access to health care, and free education plus affordable colleges or skills training.
All these are being eroded away and have been for some time. Minimum wages have had to be raised by the people because wage growth has been stagnant. The costs of health care and college are beyond the reach of too many. Many states cannot find qualified teachers because of low salaries.
We need leaders at home and in Washington who will work to solve these problems, not cut taxes, or spend more on walls or the military.
ED PARKS
Rogers
We're missing Charles
Driving Highway 300 just isn't the same ... Charles has moved. Charles, a resident at Easter Seals Armistead Village, brightened the days of many a driver. I don't know anyone who knew him personally, but you could always depend on knowing he would be on the sidewalk waving and smiling at anyone passing by, the smile widening for those who honked. I grew to anticipate seeing him, knowing that whatever bright light burns within him would shine through for any of us to see. He always made me smile.
In talking with other residents along this road, I know I'm not remotely close to being the only person who misses Charles. If you know him, know where he is, please let him know that our travels aren't nearly as joyful without him. We miss you, Charles. And we wish there were more precious people like you. The world is a better place because you are in it!
RHONDA PATTON
Roland
Full or half Bernie?
Clarke Tucker, the liberal Harvard-educated Democrat state legislator, embraces progressive and socialist Bernie Sanders' health-care plan--Medicare for All or Medicare for All Opt-in. This surpasses Obamacare, and expands an already Democrat program. I wonder, when Tucker dives into health-care policy, why does he do a half, or full Bernie? Simple. He's a big-government Democrat.
Promoted by Bernie Sanders and Sen. Tim Kaine--remember him, Hillary Clinton's running mate--Medicare for All is another big federal government, too-expensive health-care plan which will continue to separate patients from their own doctors and limit patient-centered choice; the people's choice. Estimates say this plan will cost us billions, and shift spending away from our promised Social Security and Medicare for seniors. We don't have enough money for these programs as it is, and they need protecting. Arkansans must know that Medicare for All bills are pending in Washington right now sponsored by Democrats!
While more spending, growing big government, and protecting Social Security and Medicare are compelling reasons to oppose Medicare for All, we--patients, our doctors and our hospitals--are still reeling from Obamacare. This is the last thing that Arkansans need now. We are still trying to straighten out Obamacare. Why add another layer, another big change, and further burden our health-care providers, hospitals and patients? Tucker has it wrong.
Millennials like me need to think about who is going to pay for this. Spoiler: We will. There's no such thing as free health care or free college tuition. Someone has to pay for it. We cannot afford Clarke Tucker and his socialist Sanders plan.
Vote French Hill.
McKENZIE STELL
Conway
A lot of fakery here
Who got faked out? Fake news, doubtful. Fake president, no doubt.
HUMPY FISHER
Wynne
Tickets for the show
I don't know which part of the Kavanaugh hearing is the most disconcerting--whether it is the man himself who seems so evasive and is known to have lied under oath before, or the peep-show going on with women on the front row with their whole legs showing. They look like rejects from the Rockettes.
EVELYN BROWN
Little Rock
Editorial on 09/23/2018