Election not referendum on health care reform

Tom Harper, Henderson

Monday, Jan. 25, 2010 | 2:03 a.m.

On Thursday the Las Vegas Review-Journal ran a full-page ad, titled “Harry Reid, Meet Scott Brown Your Newest Colleague,” which asked Nevadans to contact Sen. Reid and tell him to join Brown “in opposing the government takeover of health care.”

The ad indicated it was paid for by Americans for Responsible Health Care and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. Although the ad spins the election of Brown as a referendum against the U.S. Senate-passed health care legislation, it was state Sen. Brown who supported a universal health care program in Massachusetts. According to a September poll, 59 percent of Massachusetts voters were satisfied with their universal health care program, and therefore, there can be no truth that the election of Brown was a referendum against the U.S. Senate-passed health care legislation.

Americans for Responsible Health Care was formed only recently (i.e., just before the Massachusetts Senate special election) and was funded by retired Florida real estate developer Parker Collier, who funded $200,000 in ads for Brown in the Senate race.

I don’t know about you, but it sounds to me that a retired Florida real estate developer who contributed $200,000 to Brown’s campaign isn’t looking out for the interests of the 47 million uninsured Americans or those Americans feeling the crunch of health care expenses.

Therefore, to avoid the “spin” and pass the reality check, shouldn’t the ad not only introduce Mr. Brown to Sen. Reid, but also request that Brown, unlike his 40 other Republican colleagues in the Senate, act in a bipartisan manner and have a meaningful dialogue with Democrats to help repair a failed health care system so as to provide coverage for the uninsured and prevent escalating and unsustainable health care expenses that threaten to bankrupt this great nation?