An Al Scoonz Sighting

It's always a good day when there's an Al Scoonzarielli letter on the editorial page. They've been too infrequent lately.

There's a political letter brewing in me but I don't want to get into it yet. Where to start?

I could do 600 words on Stiling Knight alone. I really wanted to start one with "Wake up Maggie I think I got something to say to you" and even though Madame Alitz wouldn't get it, I'll bet my man Kevin Robbins is cracking up! 

There's more, but I just want to put that bit up because it's so good for my ego to get a shout out from my original idol when it came to writing letters to the editor. 

May as well include here the draft of one I'm working on.

     This is in response to the editorial suggesting that President Trump work with the Democrats on healthcare. That can’t be any less productive than working with the Republicans. It shouldn’t have taken John Boehner to point out the futility of their trying to pass a healthcare bill. There are 30 of them on the Freedom Caucus who are stuck in opposition mode no matter the level of cruelty to the average American. Yes, essential benefits should be maintained and those with pre-existing conditions covered. Trump should kill his executive order weakening the individual mandate as well. It’s the stick that makes the carrots possible. He should also commit to funding cost-sharing reductions to reduce deductibles for lower-income Americans and the House should drop the lawsuit against those payments. Kaiser says the absence of these will raise the cost of silver plans 19%.

     Republicans are in charge of everything now. If people are going bankrupt or dying because of lack of insurance, it’s their fault. If the industry “explodes,” it’s their fault. They can fix the ACA (my choice), maintain it the best they can, as is (until we elect people capable of governing), or destroy it purposely or through neglect. Replacement is not an option, as amusing as the attempts are. I suppose we could interrupt our rep’s Spring break to ask her opinion, but what’s the point.

     Thanks for the shout-out, Al. I was LOLing as the kids used to say, but now I can’t get Maggie May out of my head.