Republicans Have No Answers on Health Insurance, Broadening the Tax Base
I am a 72-year-old grandmother and retired teacher, hardly a political operative, who believes that it is important to tell the whole truth when you write a letter to the editor.
The whole truth is, most of the cuts and possible cuts to the New York State budget, mentioned in Daryl Lindholm’s letter of Oct. 6-12, are happening because the Republicans in Washington and the president are willing to let states and cities go bankrupt while they are quick to protect the super-rich.
What are Rob Astorino’s and Kevin Byrne’s specific plans to make up the hole in the state budget caused by the pandemic and the President’s hatred of New York? What’s their plan? As a teacher, I always had a plan!
As a senior citizen on Medicare for many years, I believe that others should have the same benefits. I have excellent coverage, can choose my own doctors. All I ever got from my private insurance companies is agita, fighting to get them to pay what they should.
Don’t we have a moral obligation to find a way to provide access to health care to the millions of people who have lost their private medical insurance with their jobs or who can’t get health insurance because of pre-existing conditions? Think about this: as my co-pays for doctor visits and drugs have gone up and up, the multimillion-dollar salaries of insurance, drug and hospital executives are going up even faster. It’s easy to criticize, but what are the Republican candidates’ plans to fix this?
Now let’s talk specifics about our property taxes with close to 70 percent going to support our great schools. We can hold the line on property taxes only if the state, with a broader tax base (corporate and personal income, etc.), takes over a larger share of funding education.
We need representatives in Albany who are willing to make tough decisions and tackle tough problems. If you think that the super-rich should pay more, that people who lose their jobs and people with pre-existing conditions should have access to health care, you will join me in voting for Pete Harckham and Stephanie Keegan.
Mary Jane Kilian
Yorktown Heights
