In today's pages: Coverage for abortions and the real story of the Berlin Wall
Public option, shmublic option. If you really want to get people worked up about healthcare reform, start talking about whether it should cover abortions and illegal immigrants. Today, the editorial board tackles both those issues, saying that abortion opponents are looking to "extend federal prohibitions into private pocketbooks. By restricting coverage offered through the exchange, they hope to make abortion coverage so unattractive that insurers eventually stop offering it in the market for individual and small-group policies." Healthcare reform thus should not restrict those who receive subsidies from buying extra coverage for abortions. And it's an odd healthcare policy that would eliminate all possibility for illegal immigrants to participate in subsidized care, but require them to purchase their own coverage regardless of their personal finances, the board argues.
"Extraordinary rendition" is just a dressed-up word for kidnapping in the editorial board's eyes, and it praises Italy for recognizing that fact, if mainly symbolically, by convicting 23 Americans and two Italians in absentia for grabbing an Egyptian cleric in Milan six years ago.
On the other side of the fold, the author of a book on the Cold War argues that former President Reagan's seemingly bold words to Mikhail S. Gorbachev --"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." -- were for the most part a cover intended to build popular support for the president while he worked on effective diplomatic relations with the then-Soviet president.
And writer Joe Mathews raises his hand for the job of lieutenant governor. It's not that he has ambitions to run anything, he says, and that's exactly what qualifies him for the job. Meanwhile, think of all the spare time he'd have for blogging.
-- Karin Klein
Photo: People stroll by the giant dominoes set up at the site of the Berlin Wall, part of a gala celebration of its toppling. Credit: Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters
Dear Dr Alan Phillips,
Ronald Reagan decreased taxes on the wealthiest Americans while increasing taxes on the poor and middle class. He increased taxes on Social Security and Medicare among other things. Reagan's theory of "trickle down" economics, now something laughable, led to some of the highest budget deficits ever seen at that time, raising the National Debt to 3 trillion dollars. Unemployment rose, productivity fell and the gap between the rich and the rest of us increased as it has under all the Republican administrations. While I don't doubt Reagan loved his country, his policies were not good for the country.
JK Beardsley
Posted by: J Beardsley | November 09, 2009 at 08:12 AM
The President was correct to travel to Germany and give that speech. Reagan was first and foremost an American with principles and ethics. One never had to doubt his love, commitment and dedication to his beloved America. He never once apologized for the greatness of our nation. He stood for American constitutional government.
It's the hope of a majority of voters that another Reagan type leader will again emerge. I agree with those millions of our fellow citizens, we need another Reagan type as President. His God Bless America still rings in my ears.
Posted by: Dr. Alan Phillips | November 08, 2009 at 04:54 AM