Constituents ask, where are Sens. Burr and Tillis?

Burr and Tillis ‘owe answers’

Regarding “Tillis and Burr duck the public on health care debate” (July 21): Things in Washington are slowly spinning out of control. There are major questions to which residents of North Carolina need answers from N.C. Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis. They need to hear and exchange their views regarding the Republican-proposed health care bill and better understand where their representatives stand regarding issues such as Medicaid and loss of coverage. They also need to hear what position their senators would take if Trump fires Robert Mueller. Burr and Tillis owe everyone answers on these important issues.

Senators’ actions ‘reprehensible’

Regarding “Tillis will back any health care bill that can pass” (July 1): A decent and responsible senator, when asked if s/he planned to support a bill, would answer with something to the effect of, “After I read it and listen to the debate and carefully consider its effect on my constituents and the American people, I will then vote my conscience.”

When asked if they would support the the various health care bills making their way through the Senate, Sen. Richard Burr answered “I’ll vote for anything” and Sen. Thom Tillis said he would be “supportive of anything ... to get to 51 votes.” In other words, “I’ll vote with my party no matter what the bill says.” I find this to be reprehensible.

Health care bill ‘lacks compassion’

Sen. Thom Tillis should be ashamed of himself. He enjoys some of the best health care available anywhere in the world at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. Yet, on July 25, he voted to begin a process that will deny millions of poor and underprivileged residents even rudimentary health care.

It is certain that among those numbers are millions of people who will suffer and die agonizing deaths that could have been prevented with adequate care. He and most other Republicans would prefer to spend the money essential to granting health care on giving the super-rich greater tax cuts. This philosophy is intrinsically immoral. This lack of basic human compassion should not be rewarded with reelection.

Not enough information

Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis approved a motion to proceed to a vote:

1. Without knowing what was in the bill they voted on.

2.Without knowing what the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office would say about the impact of amendments and the final bill on coverage and premiums.

3.With full knowledge that the Senate parliamentarian has said that the Senate must remove provisions intended to prevent an insurance market death spiral of sicker patients, driving up costs.

4.Without knowing the details of the secret state Medicaid waivers the Trump administration insists will make the bill work.

5.Without knowing how their own state budget would be impacted.

6.Without knowing how they would defend the provisions they would have learned about later, including the payoffs.

7.Without even knowing which bill they were being asked to vote on, what the defining amendments would be and how much time they would have had when being pressed for a final vote they’d be stuck with forever.

Access ‘not enough’

Republican-led health care reform seems to have ground to a halt, but opportunities to get it right still exist. Recently Sen. Richard Burr wrote, “I agree that we must help ensure that all Americans have access to health care coverage.” But “access” to insurance is not enough. The best solution is single-payer “Medicare for All.” But Burr opposes this because “a single-payer system would lead to fewer choices for patients and degrade quality of care.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. Residents of countries with government-guaranteed health care are much happier than Americans are – they are in better health and never fear bankruptcies due to medical bills. Under “Medicare for All,” Americans could freely choose their health care providers who would be compensated by a single agency. People can tell members of Congress to vote to provide cost-effective, comprehensive health care to all Americans – the just thing to do.

Burr and Tillis ‘cowardly’

Regarding “Burr, Tillis fail to lead on health care” (July 26): Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tills may indeed “find themselves uncomfortable when they come back to see constituents.” In recent months they have been invisible in North Carolina. They are, no doubt, aware of the noisy confrontational meetings endured (or escaped) by their Senate colleagues and are doing their cowardly best to avoid a similar experience here.

‘So much for being leaders’

N.C. Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis just voted Yes on the health care bill vote. I just called both senators’ offices and asked if either one was planning to hold any upcoming public meetings to hear from constituents; both offices said they had none planned. When I asked when either one held their last public meeting, they didn’t know.

So much for representing the interests of the people and being leaders.

Health care bill ‘immoral’

Thanks to Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, 1,348,300 North Carolinians are at risk of losing coverage. That’s more than 13 percent of our total population. And 638,900 will lose Medicaid coverage. Most North Carolina voters oppose repeal.

But Burr and Tillis ignored them. And if either one of them would’ve had the fortitude to stand up to Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell and vote in the best interest of North Carolinians, this vote would have failed, the Affordable Care Act would be safe and hardworking Tar Heel families could rest a little bit easier tonight knowing that they and their loved ones are still covered.

But instead, people find themselves at the foothills of a large, arduous mountain – one that will demand every ounce of blood, sweat and tears available to climb if they’re going to protect their health care from immoral, greedy politicians.

This story was originally published July 29, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Constituents ask, where are Sens. Burr and Tillis?."