Dear Sen. Scott, I supported you, but your inaction on healthcare is hurting me | Opinion

GOP’s health dud

Dear Sen. Rick Scott:

As a lifelong Republican, I am fed up, frustrated and frankly, outraged. My health insurance premiums have tripled compared to last year. This is not a minor increase nor a market fluctuation — this is a direct result of a decade of congressional inaction and I hold you and your colleagues responsible.

For years, Republicans have campaigned on fixing the healthcare system, reducing premiums, expanding competition and ending the crushing burden placed on individuals, families and small businesses. Yet after 10 years of promises, I have seen no meaningful reform, no relief and no accountability. Meanwhile, ordinary Americans like myself are being financially strangled by premiums that rise faster than wages, inflation, or any reasonable economic metric.

I supported you because I believed our party would lead with solutions. Instead, we have allowed the same broken system to rot further. We have ceded ground, failed to pass durable reforms and left constituents exposed to skyrocketing costs. If Democrats were in charge, I would expect disagreeable policies, but I never expected my own party to simply do nothing.

I will not support representatives who stand by while their constituents suffer. You represent me, but your inaction is harming me. I want to see leadership, urgency and results, not talking points, not excuses and not more delay.

Nick Limner,

Miami

This won’t float

I was looking forward to experiencing the Biscayne Bay Water Taxis during Miami Art Week. I rode my Brompton folding bike to the Venetian Marina to take a water taxi to Miami Beach. I arrived at the same time as a scooter rider. The boat was empty of passengers, but we were both denied entry.

Sad and disappointing that folks who are conscientious enough to forgo cars in favor of first and last mile mobility alternatives are not encouraged to board water taxis.

The water taxi services here should be like those I’ve enjoyed while visiting Sydney, Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria and San Francisco — but only if they welcome cyclists and scooter operators as well.

Harry Emilio Gottlieb,

Coconut Grove

Becoming American

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has said that mass immigration is a great lie because we are importing entire societies that, instead of assimilating, are recreating the conditions and terrors of the countries they left behind. Our government has forgotten to require assimilation as a condition of living in America.

Today, no one is required to learn English, American history, or civics unless they apply for naturalization. An immigrant can live in America for life as a legal resident without ever assimilating our language or culture.

America must be strict about who we allow in to settle here. We must have higher expectations of immigrant communities. English should be required. Basic knowledge of American culture and laws should be required. Expecting nothing from immigrants is dangerous and counterproductive.

We cannot allow foreign communities to live embedded in America without assimilating. Compassion does not mean naïveté. America cannot survive as a collage of parallel societies. Assimilation is the price of admission to American life.

Eduardo Montalvo,

Miami

Front page frets

Boy, was it difficult to get through the front page of the Herald’s Dec. 3 edition!

First, Miami Dade College once again voted to give away prime downtown land to Donald Trump so he can build another monstrosity.

Then, the specter of massive future war crimes, as Trump called on the military to escalate hostilities against a sovereign nation without any declaration of war (the purported rationale being that Venezuela’s president, Nicholas Maduro, is a narco-dictator).

Topping it all, Trump pardoned an actual former narco dictator (Juan O. Hernandez of Honduras).

Alan Thomas,

Miami

Piglet pardon

Once again, we have been treated to a photograph of an adorable animal being “pardoned” by a smiling politician, while others, most not smiling at all, look on. Recently, Miami-Dade County Mayor Levine Cava, whose environmental and humanitarian record I personally admire, was seen grinning ear to ear while holding a baby piglet, barely the length of her forearm and most certainly not enjoying the theater. How anyone could kill it is beyond me. Celebrating that this one will be spared, for the moment, is hardly a victory.

Whether killing and eating animals is justifiable is debatable and not the issue. Making a mockery of the process and subjecting animals to unnecessary stress for our amusement is not a humanitarian exercise.

Pigs, by reputation, are smart as dogs and often kept as pets. The next time you see this type of picture, replace the piglet or turkey with an image of your dog or cat.

James Woodard,

Palmetto Bay

Mental first aid

Students are facing increased academic pressure, anxiety and emotional challenges, yet many schools do not have enough counselors or mental health professionals to meet their needs. Investing in mental health resources will help students succeed academically and personally.

I encourage local leaders and the school district to prioritize funding for mental health programs and ensure that students have access to the support they deserve.

Kianna Crumbie,

Miami

Changing colors

Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar made headlines recently, declaring President Trump’s crackdown on immigrants as “un-American.” With a Democrat winning the City of Miami mayoral race, Salazar has finally decided a wardrobe change is in order. Coward’s yellow is the new red.

We aren’t fooled. Salazar’s new color shines brighter than the Miami sun.

Susan Whitman-Helfgot,

Coral Gables

Readers get more

Regarding President Trump’s recent cancellation of naturalization ceremonies, Congressman Carlos Gimenez requested details from the Department of Homeland Security about how these rules would be implemented.

Turns out, he learned all he needed to know by reading the first paragraph of the Miami Herald’s coverage.

Bob Ross,

Pinecrest

Shooting survivors

I wonder how the U.S. media would have reacted if there had been survivors of the two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft shot down by Cuban jets near Cuba in 1996 and the jets gunned the helpless survivors a second time.

Jose A. Fernandez,

Miami

Showing courage

It is a sad day in our community when U.S. Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar has the courage to defend her constituency while her male counterparts, Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos A. Giménez, hide behind talking points and blame former President Biden for the cruel policies of the Trump administration. Emilio de la Cal,

Coral Gables

Crude terms

Finally, President Trump has made his policy toward Venezuela crystal clear: he wants their oil. He doesn’t care if Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is a cruel dictator, or a drug lord. He just cares that he can’t get their oil at the right price.

That is why he pardons other convicted drug lords and dealers while he blows up and murders alleged drug transporters at sea. He shouldn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize. He should get the Nobel greed prize. Leon Botkin, Miami

Back to school

Re: the Dec. 10 op-ed by Grazie Pozo Christie, “Florida students will learn the dangers of socialism.” Nobody so foolish as to not know the difference between democratic socialism (as in the Scandinavian countries) vs totalitarian Maoism or Stalinism, could possibly serve on the Board of …. wait, that’s the Florida Board of Education?

Okay, now I understand.

John Saviano,

Miami Beach