Letters to the editor: Hate, Medicaid, minimum wage
Kustra’s rant
Ref: Kustra’s Dec. 29 piece “Idaho’s congressional delegation sings from the Trump hymnal.” Kustra has found a new hero in Maryland Democrat congressman Steny Hoyer. In his latest professorial diatribe against Trump he champions Hoyer by quoting him from the House floor that Trump solicited foreign influence in our elections for asking the Ukrainian president to help “us” find out how Hunter Biden was able to land a lucrative position on a corrupt Ukrainian firm with no relevant background or experience. The question referred back to 2016, but was spun by Democrats into the 2020 presidential campaign with the charge of “digging up dirt” on a political opponent (Democrats do “opposition research”). Trump’s use of executive privilege for his cabinet also drew the ire of Hoyer though Obama had used it for Attorney General Eric Holder during the “Fast and Furious” debacle. Kustra derided Idaho politicians as partisan and for sending “mind-numbing” letters to constituents while he was penning his own partisan piece. Kustra ended with a threat that our legislators would face impeachment at the top of the list on their return from Washington. He should instead have credited them for serving the will of their constituents.
Charlie Nations, Eagle
Hate
My husband and I recently saw “Fiddler on the Roof” at the Morrison Center. We have seen the show and the movie several times in our lifetime. This time, though, it took on another meaning. I always saw it as part of our Jewish history, sometimes making fun of our Jewish traditions and how they have changed with time. These were acts that took place in Russia and the rest of Eastern Europe. This time it took on a whole new meaning. I see the rise of anti-Semitism right here in the U.S. in the last few years. There have been attacks on synagogues, graffiti on gravestones and the recent attack during a Hanukkah celebration in a rabbi’s home in New York. Aside from the Jewish community, there have been a rise in hate crimes among other communities also. African Americans have always faced racism in this country. Now we can add to that the Hispanic community, Muslims and any other community viewed as an “other.” It is time for all Americans to speak up and fight against the rising hatred that plagues our country!
Michal Voloshen, Boise
Medicaid
Megan Blanksma claims that Medicaid Expansion would take health insurance away from 15,000 Idahoans. But Idaho’s private insurance exchange says that you can decline Medicaid coverage and enroll with Your Health Idaho. However, you will not be eligible for any type of cost savings and will be expected to pay your full monthly premium, deductible, and any co-pays.
This means people qualified for medicaid have a choice between free Medicaid or private insurance. Who could ask for more?
Forty-two thousand Idahoans were enrolled in expanded Medicaid in November. A friend of mine stopped me the other day to tell me that her son, who lost his coverage on his parent’s policy when he turned 27 last year, qualified for medicaid. She was intensely grateful to Reclaim Idaho for passing the expansion, because neither she nor her son could afford to purchase private insurance without an Obamacare subsidy. Neither made enough money to qualify for a subsidy.
Do you know anyone who is losing their coverage? If so, please let them know they have a choice.
Medicaid expansion expands coverage to our families and our friends. Don’t let anyone tell you any different.
Nancy Gerth, Sagle
Minimum wage
Sadly, some people oppose raising Idaho’s minimum wage in spite of the economic benefits to workers, employers and communities reported in states and cities that have increased their minimum wages. A quick history review might explain why. President Franklin D. Roosevelt championed and signed into law the first national minimum wage in 1938, proclaiming it a “livable wage” high enough to allow full-time workers to earn a respectable living. By the 1980s, that dream seemed achievable until: 1) Ronald Reagan introduced “trickle down” economics, 2) GOP legislatures decimated labor unions, 3) “dark money” allowed big business to buy politicians to do their bidding, 4) the GOP’s 24/7 propaganda machine told their base that low-wage earners were lazy, uneducated and undeserving and 5) Risch, Crapo, Simpson, Fulcher, Labrador and our Idaho state GOP legislators repeatedly voted against their low-wage constituents. Thanks to them we now have a large, underpaid working class barely able, if at all, to scratch out an existence. Simply put, those who are working for today’s slave wages are victims of GOP greed. Opposing a minimum wage increase ignores history, facts and the reality that Idahoans need and deserve a long-overdue raise!
Tex Beauchamp, Meridian