12/26 Letters: Congress must restore CHIP funding

Regarding “Funding impasse puts health coverage at risk for millions of children” (Dec. 20): I am a constituent writing to encourage Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr and Rep. George Holding to support reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program immediately, using a bipartisan approach. The proposal to fund CHIP by taking money from the Affordable Care Act and weakening Medicare is insufficient.

We need a sensible resolution soon. Parents of children in North Carolina are already facing difficult decisions about their children’s health care because they cannot afford to pay for their medical expenses out of pocket. Not passing CHIP will do tremendous harm to families right here in our state and our district. North Carolina is due to run out of CHIP funds by the end of the first quarter of 2018. Please help the children of North Carolina by funding CHIP as soon as possible.

Tax plan ‘scam’

Regarding “Triumphant Trump celebrates tax win – but some fear backlash” (Dec. 20): The GOP controlled Congress never ceases to amaze me. The tax heist that it just passed is a complete scam. The Republicans sound like the old Wild West salesman who was peddling snake oil which promised to cure everything.

They can act quickly on a bill that was written in a couple of weeks behind closed doors, but in 10 years they have not addressed the issue of ongoing gun violence. It is past time to oust these traitors before they pass legislation to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in order to pay for this “gift” we are receiving.

Green is affordable

J. Peder Zane’s column “The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would be a modern lifeline” (Dec. 5) gave me a chuckle. Things he likes include: heat, air conditioning, refrigerator and his killer stereo. I like those things too. Here’s something else I like: affordable energy.

2017 is the unparalleled year when the levelized cost of wind and solar energy are cheaper than all fossil fuels. The levelized cost is the cost to build and operate a generating plant. This information is from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and others. Here’s another thing I like, accurate information. Zane stated that affordable batteries aren’t available. They are. Utility-sized batteries have been developed and are being used by many countries, especially the developing nations. Those countries are leapfrogging over the fossil-fuel mess and straight to renewables.

Here’s a truth. “When renewables become an affordable alternative, Americans will embrace them.” In fact, 65 percent of Americans want the country to invest in clean energy technologies. I ask our legislature to promote clean energy because it’s cheaper, and I ask Duke Energy investors to build clean technologies because gas is too expensive.

This story was originally published December 25, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "12/26 Letters: Congress must restore CHIP funding."