Misquoting facts

Posted

To the Editor:

Why are some members of Congress and some members running for Congress so belligerent when it comes to federal employees and federal retired employees?

Presidential candidate Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin, in a Sept. 16 issue of the Providence Journal, as part of his presidential campaign, calls for eliminating unions for employees of the federal government. He claims his plan would make the government a right-to-work work place.

Scott Walker proves he has no clue on how the government hires employees. Employees are not forced to join a union as a condition of employment, which shows the governor did not check his facts. If he were to succeed, what’s next – eliminate the veterans’ organization to cut back on veterans’ benefits?

Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calf.), the second richest member of Congress, also shows his contempt for our nation’s federal workers and retirees by sponsoring H.R. 138: Access to Insurance for All Americans Act.

This act, with no co-sponsors, would repeal the Affordable Care Act of 2010 and establish a national health program that would be administered by the Office of Personnel Management to offer Federal Employees Health Benefits Program plans to individuals who are not federal employees or retirees. Then he claims it creates separate risk pools for federal and non-federal participants.

What the congressman failed to mention was the fact that the federal employees unions, consisting of many returning World War II veterans, worked hard during the ’40s and ’50s trying to convince Congress of the importance of an employee health plan. Even our congressmen belong to this health plan. Will a risk pool also be created for congressmen?

John O’Hara

Narragansett

The writer is a legislative officer for NARFE 0116, VFW Post 2812 and DAV Chapter 1.

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