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Letters
Here's Why CHOICE Act Is Good Policy...

A recent editorial seriously misinterprets the House-passed Financial CHOICE Act. Dodd-Frank enshrined "too big to fail" taxpayer bailouts. The CHOICE Act replaces bailouts with bankruptcy for risky banks, protecting taxpayer dollars in the process. This is why the big banks opposed CHOICE. Your biased editorial omits this fact.

I ran on repealing the Dodd-Frank red tape negatively impacting community banks. Voters agreed with me that the law is a problem. That's because the people who live and work here have personally felt the effects of Washington's endless paperwork and top-down regulations. The CHOICE Act also contains my amendment that will help Main Street community banks continue to lend to small businesses and individuals in this newspaper's coverage area and across the 19th Congressional District. The successfully passed amendment was crafted following discussions and listening sessions with community banks who actually serve my constituents. Community banks were not responsible for the financial crisis but were unfairly burdened by Dodd-Frank's thousands of pages of regulations and requirements. The CHOICE Act is a helpful step in giving community banks overdue regulatory relief.

John J. Faso, Member of Congress
Kinderhook


Faso Showed A Lack Of Decorum

On June 8, something truly ironic happened in Washington, courtesy of my congressman, John Faso. As Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi of California used her allotted time to comment on the floor of the House of Representatives discussing pending legislation designed to ease rules on banks and weaken consumer financial protections, Faso tried to shout her down.

The irony is that Faso clearly likes to think of himself as a person who places a high value on decorum. After all, that's the reason he has offered for his failure over the last six months to hold a single open town hall meeting with constituents anywhere in his district. Because those meetings might involve interruptions from the public, Faso says they're not productive and he won't engage in them. How does he square this position with his own incongruent behavior toward his much senior colleague?

Pelosi kept her cool as Faso interrupted her not once, not twice, but four times, even as the House Speaker pro tempore Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-OK) repeatedly reminded Faso that Pelosi controlled the time and was under no obligation to yield.

Was Faso's nasty treatment of his colleague just about the legislation under discussion? I suspect a different reason. Perhaps Faso went after Pelosi because of her announcement earlier in the week, alongside Governor Cuomo, that she and Cuomo plan to work together to unseat upstate Republicans, like Faso, whose votes have betrayed New Yorkers. There's no irony or surprise there: Faso's favoring of billionaires over constituents is well established by his voting record.

Paige Smith Orloff
Spencertown


Looking At Trumpcare vs Obamacare

On May 23 the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released its cost estimate on HR1628, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), on which Congressman Faso voted Yes. This act is nicknamed "Trumpcare." The CBO report makes clear that it caters to the young and wealthy at the terrible expense of lower-income elders.

Table 5 forecasts the year 2026, comparing AHCA ("Trumpcare") and current law (ACA, "Obamacare") as to annual net cost of health insurance for a "non-group" person. [Net cost equals premium minus value of tax credits.]

Under ACA in 2026, a 21 year-old NYS resident making $26,500/yr would face a $5,100 premium. With tax credits worth $3,400; the net cost would be $1,700 (6.4 percent of $26,500). A 64 year-old with the same income would also have net cost equaling 6.4 percent of income. [His/her premium is three times higher but tax credits, based on income rather than age, are also higher.]

Under "Trumpcare," the 21-year-old would have a lower premium though less tax credit; net cost equals 6.6 percent of income. Under "Trumpcare" however, the 64-year-old's premium would be five times that of the 21 year-old. (Tax credits are pegged to age, not income, and are only double those of the younger person.) The older person's net cost would be $16,100/yr, a staggering, unaffordable 61 percent of income to buy health insurance.

Under the ACA, a 21-year-old making $68,200 in 2026 would pay 7.4 percent of income; a 64-year-old, 22 percent. In sharp contrast, under "Trumpcare" the net cost to the 21-year-old would be just 2.5 percent of income, one third of that under "Obamacare." The 64 year-old's would be 24 percent.

Payoff to the young and affluent, disaster for older and poorer. That's the "Health Care" bill our Congressman voted for.

Stephen Shafer
Saugerties


Soyuzivka Remembers A Departed Friend

The Soyuzivka family has lost a colleague and friend...

It is with profound sadness that management and staff of the Ukrainian National Association, the Ukrainian National Foundation and Soyuzivka announce the unexpected passing yesterday of our colleague and dear friend, Sonia Semanyshyn. Funeral arrangements and details will follow.

A good heart has stopped beating... A good soul is now in heaven..

Dear Sonia, you will be missed.

Soyuzivka Heritage Center
Kerhonkson


Replacing Nukes and Fossils

Governor Cuomo's announcement of a $1.5 billion initiative for renewable energy projects in New York State is a commendable move considering recent national actions on climate change, but it raises serious questions about his recent bailout of the nuclear industry.

If a $1.5 billion investment into the renewable industry will create 40,000 jobs in New York by 2020, as the Governor claims, why is he taxing ratepayers $7.6 billion to save 600 nuclear jobs? It doesn't add up. On top of that, the nuclear plants will only supply energy to Upstate New Yorkers through 2029, falling a year short of his Clean Energy Standard (CES) goal.

A $7.6 billion state investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency, if you use the Governor's calculations, could create 200,000 jobs, and be able to produce the necessary energy to fully replace unsafe nuclear power while phasing out fossil fuels.

New Yorkers need clean, safe, economically sensible 21st century energy solutions. The State obviously has the capacity to do so.

Eric Wood, NYPIRG
New Paltz


Loosen This State's Voting Laws

New York is currently ranked 42nd in the country in terms of voting rights. There are currently three bills up for consideration that would change this. First is early voting (S2950), which would allow citizens to vote for eight days before Election Day, which obviously makes voting easier and thus greatly encourages voter participation. Thirty-seven other states have it.

Secondly, S2788 calls for using electronic poll books, which would cut down on long voter lines by facilitating the voting process and reducing errors.

Thirdly, New York has the most regressive change of party affiliation deadline in the country (at the moment six months and 10 days before the election), while many states have open primaries (requiring no party affiliation to vote). The current bill proposed would shorten the period to 120 days. We must push to get the time down to 25 days.

Early Voting S2950 and Electronic Poll Books S2788 have passed in the Assembly but are stuck in the Senate Rules committee. Before these bills become laws, there are two major hurdles remaining. One is our Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the other is the Majority Leader John Flanagan. Contact them and tell them you support these two bills and changing the deadline of days to change party affiliation before an election to 25.

Kevin McDaniel
Hurleyville


Hospital Payments Not Fair At All

For about 15 years, Kingston and Benedictine hospitals (now HealthAlliance Hospitals) have been underpaid by Medicare. Northern Dutchess and Vassar hospitals in Dutchess County receive about 25 percent more Medicare reimbursement for the same procedure. This is an underpayment of about $10 million per year for Kingston's hospitals. For 15 years, Kingston has lost about $150 million.

What has this caused? 1) Nurses and technicians get paid more at Northern Dutchess Hospital. Nurses that hire and train in Kingston often leave for jobs in Dutchess County.

2) Dutchess hospitals attract more Medicare hospital admissions, nurses and doctors, while Kingston loses medical expertise.

3) Empire Blue Cross-Blue Shield has decided to drop Kingston hospital admissions for seniors, non-seniors and every age bracket, since Blue Cross and Kingston Hospital cannot agree on a fair reimbursement schedule. Why? Because Blue Cross wants to reimburse Kingston at a lower rate, which is consistent with the lower Medicare reimbursement rate of Ulster versus Dutchess counties. All Ulster County government employees, who are covered by Empire Blue Cross, cannot receive in-hospital treatment at Kingston Hospital.

Our local hospital officials and some politicians have tried over the past 15 years to appeal this injustice, but they have failed to correct this unfairness, which almost destroyed our local hospitals.

Personally, I believe that this 15 years of Medicare unfairness deserved to be fought with a lawsuit by the Kingston/HealthAlliance/WMC Hospital. By now, we people of Ulster County would have gotten the attention of news outlets, government agencies and the court system.

Ralph Mitchell
Kingston



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