Rep. Black’s proposal to refuse ER care for poor shocking
As a nurse, I was shocked by Rep. Diane Black’s proposal to refuse care to the poor at hospital emergency departments (“Black: ER’s should be able to turn people away,” Times Free Press, Oct. 27, 2017). Rep. Black called the poor a “burden” and stated the ER “is not the proper place” for treatment.
But, according to Dr. Bollinger, emergency department chief of St. Thomas Hospital, the ER is “the catch-all for the poorest.” That department spends the most for “the chronically unwell (with multiple health issues), who teeter on the edge of needing hospitalization.”
Congresswoman Black, I urge you to reflect on your words as a “steadfast champion for the rights of the unborn … a life is a life.” Life does not stop at birth; care and regard should remain throughout life: vaccinations, prenatal care, elder care.
You came from humble beginnings, lived in public housing, were the first in your family to attend college. You’ve done well. Your personal worth exceeds $77 million. Yet, in the House this year, you voted to retain your Cadillac health care coverage and to repeal Obamacare.
What are your ethics and values, congresswoman?
April Cook, BSN, RN, Lookout Mountain, Tenn.
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Vote against bill opposing controls
Our community needs your coverage on U.S. Rep. Steve King’s, R-Iowa, bill, HR 3599, which would prohibit states and localities from enacting additional laws to protect their markets and citizens. In part, the King bill forbids states from regulating the quality and safety of food products imported from other states.
This bill is presented with hopes that the public will not protest rolling back the basic right (10th Amendment) of our state to enact laws, which protect citizens. Attacking these laws also undermines related laws pertaining to the funding of animal cruelty in such areas as puppy mills and horse slaughters.
Protect not only animals but farmers, consumers and those who eat food that may be transported (uh, that’s all of us).
Speak out against this bill. Please call your members of Congress and tell them to oppose the King bill in order to keep our food safe, honest businesses protected and current animal welfare laws intact. Find their numbers at https://www.callmycongress.com/.
Mary Marjorie Weber Marr
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GOP actions reveal disregard for humans
The Republican Congress is busy colluding with Trump to undo Obama’s legislative protections of human beings and our environment by passing a legislative bonanza for the super rich at the expense of the rest of us.
Congress has now overturned protections for children by rejecting recommendations to ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos linked to developmental problems in children; it has repealed the requirement that companies disclose and fix labor and safety violations; and overturned a rule restricting coal companies from dumping mining debris into waterways.
The Education Department has delayed requirements that for-profit colleges follow honest and sound education practices; Congress has overturned a rule allowing consumers to file class action lawsuits against banks and has repealed requirements that certain employers disclose and fix serious labor and safety violations.
It also repealed regulation barring persons suffering from schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders (about 75,000) from buying a gun! And more.
Looking at such greed and aggression toward America and our people is breathtaking. What kind of human beings would deliberately vote against such protections?
Faye Walter, Sewanee, Tenn.