Letter to the Editor: Typical
BY Wanda Jo Stapleton, Oklahoma City
Sunday, January 13, 2013
1/13/13 at 7:30 AM
Gov. Mary Fallin's ruthless refusal to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income Oklahomans is typical of the way her past political actions have harmed Oklahomans.
For example, in 2007 Fallin, when she was in Congress, voted against raising the minimum wage above $5.15 per hour, where it had been for 10 years.
Then, she opposed House Resolution 4, which gave Medicare authority to negotiate with drug manufacturers for lower prescription drug prices. In other words, she voted to turn pricing of our prescription drugs over to pharmaceutical companies and order Medicare to pay whatever was asked. For those advocating reduction of Medicare costs, here's the place to start.
She also said no to expanding the state Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for 55,000 low-income children in Oklahoma and 4 million nationwide.
She voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first bill that President Obama signed into law. Ledbetter was a hard worker who learned years later that she had lost more than $200,000 in salary, and even more in pension and Social Security benefits because she had been paid much less than her male co-workers doing exactly the same work.
Finally, Fallin signed an emergency rule that gives insurance companies a pass on providing individual health insurance coverage for newborns to one-year-olds.
Surely Oklahomans don't realize how badly Fallin's actions have hurt many of us.
Editor's note: Stapleton is a former state representative, 1986-1996.
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Associated Images:
Republican Gov. Mary Fallin speaks during a press conference after meeting with President Barack Obama about thefiscal cliff in Washington on Dec. 4. ANDREW HARRER/Bloomberg
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