Readers Write: Sept. 25

ACA repeal efforts will take away health care

Once again, the Republican Senate has taken to back-channel negotiations and obfuscation in an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

This is obscene. Today, there are babies being born prematurely. Under this new version of the ACA repeal, many of these babies will leave the hospital having exceeded their lifetime insurance cap. It seems that Senate Republicans want to take health care from people and start over. The problem is people are getting sick every day, and if those people are uninsured or can’t afford their bills, it drives up costs for the rest of us.

Given the public outcry against this year’s previous repeal efforts, I can only think of one reason Republicans want to try this again. They want to be able to say “we repealed Obamacare.” I hope that political capital comforts them when their sick grandchild is denied insurance coverage.

CASSANDRA WILLIAMS, STONE MOUNTAIN

Lots of questions for carbon-tax advocates

Would you step onto a 20-foot-high diving board and dive into the pool without checking to see if there was water, and its depth? I don’t think you would. A carbon tax rides a similar path. I have not seen or read any discussion on the execution of this tax.

Who will be taxed? Large-volume carbon producing plants, small-volume plants, agricultural farmers, cattle owners, car owners, people (we produce gas) and all other gas producers or just some of the above? How will the volume of gas be measured? How will it be taxed? Who will collect the tax? IRS doesn’t have the needed staff. People will have to be hired and trained; more bureaucracy. How much of the collected tax will go towards administrative costs? How will the tax be distributed?

Carbon tax; a simple statement but an unknown number of unanswered questions.

So please, carbon tax advocate: check the water if you want to get out of the pool in one piece.

DAN SIEGEL, DACULA