24 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 3, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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A return to regular order - and sanity
When Arizona Senator John McCain gave the literal thumbs down on the
Senate fl oor last week to the latest attempt to kill Obamacare, there was a
sense that sanity had prevailed. For now.
Of course, Republicans and the current administration won’t cease and
desist in their eff ort to repeal and replace the Aff ordable Care Act. Nothing
seems to deter this cause: not the reported millions of people who would
lose their health insurance under proposed repeal bills, not the unpopularity
of said repeal bills, not even the mere acknowledgement by Obamacare’s
staunchest supporters that the law is imperfect and they want to help fi x it.
In the wake of the latest defeat of repeal and replace, a bipartisan group
of Congress Members -- including Tom Suozzi, who represents northeast
Queens -- has done something that the repeal and replace champions haven’t
done in 7 1/2 years: come up with a serious plan to reform health insurance
to help the insured and businesses alike.
Th e plan that the Problem Solvers Caucus, as the bipartisan group is called,
seeks to regulate (and also guarantee) the funding of cost reduction payments
to ensure aff ordable premiums; changes mandates for small businesses
to provide health care coverage for their full-time workers; repeals the medical
device tax that’s oft en passed on to consumers; and allows states to create
regional marketplace agreements to increase competition and lower coverage
costs.
Th e bill is not a perfect plan, and who knows if it will ever be seriously considered
by the hardline House leadership. Regardless of this proposal’s fi nal
fate, the idea represents the kind of eff ort that’s needed if this country wants
to fi x its health care system.
Republicans and Democrats working together? What a concept!
Actually, it used to be the “regular order” of business on Capitol Hill, as
Senator McCain pointed out last week. Somewhere along the way, however,
regular order devolved into regular chaos, as partisanship gripped the
majority and minority alike. Th e end result is regular dysfunction that’s made
Congress as a whole less popular than a root canal, as one recent poll mentioned.
Bipartisanship and compromise are necessary for not just regular order,
but governing a democracy. Both parties must be in on the deliberations and
the creation of legislation that will aff ect the lives and well-being of millions
of Americans.
Queens’ Congressional delegation should continue to insist on having a
voice on health care reform, and the Republican leadership must end its
hyper-partisan management of Congress. Americans want government in
Washington; they don’t want chaos to reign any longer.
STORY: Cosmetics chain ‘Sephora’ is coming to a Bayside shopping
center this fall
SUMMARY: A Sephora cosmetics store will be opening at Bay Terrace
Shopping Center in September.
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