Congresswoman Kay Granger spoke at a townhall meeting in Weatherford on Aug. 28, 2010.  She was asked about why Republicans do not support various issues proposed by the President and the Democratic leaders in Congress.  She gave reasons for not agreeing with the Dems, but they all could have been answered with “We are the party of ‘No’!”  For a musical comment, see my Facebook/Profile page.  If you have seen the Marx Brothers movie “Horse Feathers”, you remember Groucho singing “I’m Against It”.  Well, I sing Groucho’s part.

The Supreme Court decision overturning McCain-Feingold is appalling.  The principle of Free Speech allows corporate PACs to give freely to political campaigns but I would like to see some transparency to the organizations which give.  Show us who your contributors are.  The same goes for labor unions.  Anyone can contribute to any political campaign.  Just tell us who you are.

     Most new legislation is meant to correct a wrong but it also can create unforeseen problems and health insurance reform is no exception.  Some employers say their costs are going to make covering employes too expensive.  Some retired citizens say their supplemental Medicare policies are no longer valid.  All these problems must be addressed with other reform legislation.  But for now, the basic needs–insurance portability between jobs, unfair exclusions for pre-existing conditions and other injustices–have been met.

     Any doubts about the need for health insurance reform were removed with 4-day-old Houston Tracy’s surgery of March 19, 2010.  Born with a heart defect, he required surgery to survive.  His parents, Doug and Kim Tracy, had health coverage for their two other children but not for themselves.  Doug Tracy had contacted the carrier Blue Cross Blue Shield about Houston’s impending birth and was told he had 30 days to include the child on the policy.  Then Blue Cross Blue Shield refused to pay for the surgery.  The new law, which takes effect in September, 2010, would require the carrier to pay.  Because of intense public scrutiny and the efforts of Cook’s Childrens Hospital in Fort Worth and two Democratic state legislators, Blue Cross Blue Shield relented and agreed to pay for the surgery.