Here & There Column 1-5-10

Klatsch Talks Health Bill & Terrorism

Throw in a great variety of Christmas cookies and our famous home-made oven baked donuts with some specially blended coffee and our end of the year Sullivan County Coffee Klatsch enjoyed not only delicious refreshments but some pretty intense discussion on how the new proposed health bill was approved and the Christmas Day airline terrorism attack.
Our klatsch, consisting of four Democrats, three Republicans and one Independent showed some sincere concern after witnessing the effort to take down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day and that the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has claimed links to al-Qaida.
Several in our group expressed their amazement that terrorism does not fit into the category of man-caused disasters and that this December 25 act was purely and simply terrorism from al-Qaida.
"We most certainly are putting ourselves at risk and we must have increased security because those terrorists and their terrorism from al-Qaida is not going to stop," was a comment made by one of our klatsch members.
The klatsch was unanimous in their feelings that the United States has let our guard down and it's going to take more then not allowing airline passengers use of the rest rooms one hour before a flight lands to deter terrorism attacks.
Two members of our coffee klatsch are former politicians and they expressed great remorse that pork projects have been used to buy Senate votes with our tax dollars in regard to the U.S. Senate health bill.
Our general discussion on the health bill is that there is some good legislation in this bill but the use of pork projects and questionable vote-buying deals to get it passed was unethical and totally wrong and that this is why a number of states attorney generals are considering a challenge to the so-called Nebraska compromise that helped secure Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson's support for the bill and shields Nebraska from the expected $45 million annual cost of expanding Medicaid programs.
Our klatsch all agreed that taxpayers here in Sullivan County and throughout New York State would be footing some of the bill for this so-called Nebraska compromise. NYS Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been asked to help in this challenge and Gov. David Paterson is quoted as saying, "it leaves New York in the lurch, I don't think anyone with any integrity can deny that's what's going on.....we'll lose over $1 billion dollars if they don't fix that health care reform act."
The klatsch endorsed the theory that public awareness and participation must increase in 2010.