GOP wants to get rid of Obamacare, but hasn’t created anything to replace it | Opinion

Replacing ACA

Since 2010 Republicans have been claiming that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was full of waste, fraud and abuse and that they could come up with a better, more affordable plan if they were in power.

Fifteen years later, twice with control of the house, the Senate and the Presidency, they’ve failed to put forth any healthcare plan other than criticizing and trying to defund the ACA.

It’s one thing to criticize the ACA. It’s another thing to actually sit down, draft a healthcare bill, seek consensus on, and pass a better healthcare bill. It’s called legislating!

Republican’s failure to legislate IS the waste, the fraud, and the abuse!

Joe Crouch, Lexington

Sycophant Barr

U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., cannot serve as the next senator from Kentucky.

He is afraid to have meaningful dialogue with his constituents. He has become a spineless sycophant who will never stand up to President Donald Trump and his ilk. We need three independent branches of government that function effectively. Barr is complicit in shutting down Congress to appease Trump and gain his favor. He is complicit in bullying scientists, educators, and public health officials. Let’s find a better candidate to represent and serve the Commonwealth.

Now is the time to put a stop to the erosion of our democracy.

Judith Weckman, Berea

Patriotic protest

Every Monday at noon, I take my protest sign and stand in front of the state Republican Headquarters on Capital Avenue in Frankfort. I am by no means alone — I am joined by other members of Capital Indivisible. We are not terrorists. We are not paid protestors. We are patriots. We come to the sidewalks on Capital Avenue with our signs because we find President Donald Trump’s signature program — Make America Great Again — frightening.

We have seen in recent months countless attacks on democracy, our constitution, and our citizens. Congress has ceded all power to the President, and the Supreme Court seems to be positioned to do the same. The most recent outrage begs the question: how can throwing tear gas close to a children’s Halloween Parade make America great again? In this case, in Chicago, a federal judge had to explain to border patrol officials that “Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not pose an immediate threat.”

And so, if it is Monday, I will head up Capital Avenue, and, it is likely the first patriot I see will be Richard Taylor, former Kentucky Poet Laureate, with his sign; Make America AMERICA Again.

And this gives me hope.

Mary Lynn Collins, Frankfort

Trump’s lies

Here’s what I don’t get. President Donald Trump lies about obvious, undeniable facts. He said that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him, but his own director of Election Security Chris Krebs said that the 2020 election was the “safest, fairest election ever held”.

He says that the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection was a “lovefest.” We saw the hundreds of hours of video of the actual event. We know that it was brutal hand-to-hand medieval combat between Trump’s thugs and the undermanned Capitol police. We know that Trump’s brown shirts injured some 142 capitol police officers, gouging out eyes, beating them with clubs, lances, and flagpoles, and destroying our historic capitol building.

Trump claims that Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland are “hellholes” going up in flames with rampant crime. This is a total lie and just not true.

He lies about his “IQ test” which was actually a test for incipient dementia.

Why on earth would anybody believe ANYTHING he says?

Jim Porter, Danville

Marsy’s Law

After more than four decades in prosecution, I’ve seen firsthand how the justice system has evolved — and how far we’ve come in recognizing the importance of victims’ voices.

When Marsy’s Law passed five years ago, it formalized something many of us in this field had long believed: that justice must include both accountability and compassion. By establishing clear constitutional rights for victims — to be notified, to be present, and to be heard — Marsy’s Law strengthened the foundation for fairness across Kentucky.

In my years as a prosecutor, I have seen the pain of victims who were denied the opportunity to speak at the sentencing of the person who murdered their loved one, or the fear of a frightened domestic violence survivor when told the court would not listen to her concerns about bond for her abuser. Today, I see those rights have taken root in daily practice — from how we communicate with victims to how their perspectives are represented in court. Marsy’s Law helped shift the culture toward one that understands victims as central to the process, not peripheral to it.

Five years later, its impact continues to remind us that justice is not one-sided. It belongs to everyone — including those who have been harmed.

Lou Anna Red Corn, retired Fayette Commonwealth Attorney

New Deal

You might have heard that President Trump has put the Wilbur J. Cohen Building up for sale. It’s an historic building filled with murals of “The Living New Deal” near the U.S. Capitol.

This is apparently another of his efforts to obliterate the New Deal. Is he trying to re-write our history, you might ask?

My first memories of the New Deal came from my mother and father’s stories about the lives of their families during the Great Depression. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a hero in these stories because he did so many things.

Some of these things failed. Few blamed FDR for that because they knew he was charting new ground in our economy. They took his efforts to mean that he cared about working people. Not ideology. Just people.

In recent decades, some politicians have built their careers on bashing the New Deal for its imperfections. Hearing these political attacks, I’m struck by the stark contrasts with what I heard from my mother and father.

I don’t believe they expected the New Deal to be perfect. They just wanted their public officials to do something, and they never forgot that the New Deal did it’s best to make a difference.

Tom Louderback, Louisville

East Wing demolition

I felt deeply hurt when I saw the rubble of what had been the East Wing of the White House, and insulted to see the plans for a gaudy ballroom that outsizes the White House.

Did President Donald Trump ask Congress’ approval or care about the American public’s opinion? No! His actions in demolishing the East Wing are a metaphor for his destruction of our democracy and institutions.

He has usurped control of spending that is Congress’ role. He abolished the US humanitarian role in the world, and he destroyed friendly relations with our allies like Canada. He charges those who have opposed him like James Comey with crimes. He threatens judges who rule against him. His ICE unjustly terrorizes immigrants who’ve committed no crime.

What are we to do? Are you avoiding the news? Are you sighing and saying, “this will pass”? Complacency feeds Trump’s excesses, corruption and lies! We must find ways to resist. Each of us must take action if we love our democracy. What will you do?

You can join an activist local group like Gathering for Democracy, Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance, Bluegrass Activist Alliance. How about joining a boycott? Write to your legislators – for help go to 5calls.org

Jeanette Coufal, Lexington

Barr and Epstein

As a constituent of U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., I am deeply concerned by his decision to vote against forcing the full release of the government’s files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. In light of widespread public demand for transparency, especially from victims of trafficking and the public, one must ask: Why is Barr opposing this release? What is it that the public is being kept from seeing? What justification does Barr have for this vote? The American people deserve to know.

Kathleen Pool, Lexington

Edited by Liz Carey