The only thing “predictable” about columnist S.E. Cupp’s screed in Thursday’s paper — headlined “The Predictable Obamacare Collapse” — was its reliance on right-wing talking points. Yes, insurance premiums are going up. That is what healthcare premiums do — they go up. What isn’t going up, however, is the rate of growth in overall health expenditures in our country, which was the case before the Affordable Care Act. What also isn’t going up is the percentage of people who are uninsured, the number of people denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions or the number of people going bankrupt because of health expenditures.
It is way past the time for folks on the right to stop stomping their feet like children and either improve the healthcare system we have or propose and implement a better one.
Don Anderson, Oak Park
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Can’t find that voter fraud
I braved the cold, the wind and rain and went down to my local voting location to cast an early ballot. I had heard so much about voter fraud this year that I was anxious to see for myself if the rumors were true.
To my surprise, I didn’t see anyone get in line twice. What’s more, I didn’t observe anyone returning in a disguise. And Donald Trump’s battalion of poll watchers were nowhere to be seen.
I then asked the kindly official who was verifying voter I.D.s if she had turned away any dead people as unqualified, but she had not — not as of yet.
Obviously, the rumors about the election being rigged (or stolen outright) are greatly exaggerated.
Bob Ory, Elgin
Higher minimum wage will kill jobs
Most people who work in grocery stores, restaurants and fast food places make a lot less money than the new minimum wages now being pushed across the country. As the new minimum wages go into effect, expect to see food prices increase across the board, and we will hear again about how people can’t live on the minimum wage.
A lot of these workers, by the way, are high schoolers, college kids and retirees; they don’t expect to live off these wages. Expect to see a lot fewer of them getting jobs in the future.
Larry Craig, Wilmette
