Justice for all

 Times Argus:  Justice for all As a registered nurse, I am held responsible to follow a set of ethical principles that guide my work: non-maleficence (do no harm), beneficence (do good), respect for the autonomy of individuals, truthfulness, and justice. I am proud to be achieving the first four principles in my work, but to […]

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Sitting in for health care

 Rutland Herald: On Thursday, Jan. 8, I was arrested. I was taken into custody by state police for standing up for the rights of the people of Vermont. Hundreds of us from all over the state went to the State House to speak out for our human right to health care after the governor took it […]

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Governor was myopic about health care

The Caledonian Record. To the Editor:Your editorial, Yeah, Right, (1/6) is spot on for identifying Gov. Shumlin’s campaign tactic, but misfires on his policy error: The reason he has deferred his decades-long push for health care reform (he committed to it first in 1994) was that he did not look far enough afield.He missed the […]

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A teachable moment for us all

St. Albans Messenger: Mr. [Jim]Fitzgerald: There is something much bigger going on here. It is unfortunate that you chose to belittle these folks for trying to improve our current health care system. A system that is dysfunctional, at best – inaccessible, unsustainable and that you yourself, given the right circumstances, could find yourself unable to […]

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America already has three single payer plans

The Valley Reporter: About the only thing I learned from Steve Allen’s letter The Unaffordable Care Act, Part Two (The Valley Reporter, 12/24/14) is that he does not like liberal/socialism. I wonder why. Whenever he drives on a road, for example, plowed and maintained by the state or town, sends his children to school, goes to […]

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What’s behind Shumlin cop-out?

Rutland Herald: I have questions about Governor Shumlin’s cessation of single-payer health care for Vermont. — Was there a coalition of conservative Democratic and Republican legislators who threatened to vote for the Republican gubernatorial candidate if Shumlin carried out his plan for Act 48? — Why the failure in gaining the promised federal funding? After three […]

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Don’t be afraid of single payer

Rutland Herald: In response to Enid K. Reiman’s letter, we are encouraged to know she recognizes the health care delivery system in the U.S. “needs to be fixed.” Without quoting figures everyone has heard, we know that we have the most expensive health care of all industrialized countries and that we provide a much lower […]

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Single payer is doable

Rutland Herald: Beyond the accusations, rationalizations and gloating, the derailed progress toward universal, publicly funded health care is a tragedy for Vermont and for the rest of the country which might have followed our example as it often has. Yes, the funding is very complicated. But with strong enough commitment, dedicated minds can find a way. […]

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Worth the fight

Times Argus:  Rep. Don Turner’s op-ed, “Single Payer Already Took its Toll,” misses many key points about Vermont’s march toward single payer. This is most likely on purpose. One of these is when Turner dubbed our attempts at single payer “ideological experiment” and “egregious waste of taxpayer dollars and the administration’s human capital.” It is […]

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Still pushing for single payer

Rutland Herald: Gov. Peter Shumlin has consistently dragged his feet on health care. The media called his near defeat in November a referendum on his policies, particularly his signature policy universal health care. But the referendum was over his feet dragging. He has consistently failed to present financing or other details for the universal health care […]

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