The right candidate for a right to health care
Elmhurst: To Voicer Liza Flanzraich: As a unionized physician at Elmhurst Hospital, I care for many older New Yorkers, and I’ve seen firsthand how our fragmented health care system is failing them. During the pandemic, it was painfully clear who benefits from the current system: not patients, not public workers and certainly not retirees.
Zohran Mamdani understands this. He has supported public hospital workers while we negotiated for safer hospital staffing, and he’s one of the few elected officials with the courage to oppose cuts to retiree health benefits. Mamdani has been a fierce advocate for the New York Health Act, which would guarantee comprehensive health care, including long-term care, for all New Yorkers and take health benefits off the bargaining table, giving unionized workers more leverage to fight for what matters. Compromised public sector union officials align with the insurance industry to push retired city workers into for-profit Medicare Advantage plans that deny care, limit access and delay treatment — plans Mamdani explicitly opposes. Retired city workers sacrificed decades of low pay for the certainty of post-retirement health benefits. City and union officials undermining their health benefits isn’t just about cost, it’s about dignity and integrity for all workers.
Dr. Oz and his corporate sponsors are in a position to functionally end Medicaid and make “Medicare Advantage For All” the default for all retirees. New York lawmakers can protect New Yorkers and lead the nation by cutting out profiteering insurance companies and passing the New York Health Act. If retirees want to preserve real health care, they should vote for Mamdani. He will stand up for every New Yorker, including retired city workers. Damien Archbold
So he says
Brooklyn: I read with interest Voicer Thomas Schechter’s endorsement of Mamdani’s stance on the Medicare Advantage issue. If Mamdani is so committed to preserving traditional Medicare for retired public service retirees, why didn’t he sign on to the state bill that would preserve those benefits? Why didn’t he sign the pledge to preserve traditional Medicare as other candidates did, and why didn’t he attend the mayoral forum sponsored by the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees? Mayor Adams called the Medicare Advantage plan a “bait-and-switch” when he was a mayoral candidate. How quickly he changed his tune once elected. Will Mamdani do the same? Jack La Torre
Heaping critique
Brooklyn: In Saturday’s editorial “The states aren’t ICE agents” (June 14), the Daily News Editorial Board dismisses shoplifting as a “low-level” crime. But empty shelves, locked up merchandise and entire blocks of shuttered stores say otherwise to most New Yorkers. The editorial also faulted local authorities for contacting ICE, who ultimately detained the two shoplifters and in turn led to a 3-year-old being left behind. Does your Editorial Board realize how ridiculous and out of touch with reality it sounds sometimes? Voters elected President Trump — by a pretty large margin — to fix this problem created by the former administration. Look around, there’s plenty to write about in NYC. There’s no need to bash this administration on a daily basis. Jack Flynn
Who’s war is it?
Middle Village: I see that one TV channel in particular is calling for an escalation of the Israel/Iran conflict. Let me ask, will the people with U.S./Israeli citizenship be called up first? Will the men who dodged the Vietnam War be called up second? Given their age, they can still help out at the VA hospitals. I think I know what the answers to these questions are. John Puglisi
Nixonian
Mineola, L.I.: For me, Trump is pursuing what Richard Nixon started in 1969-70. Nixon initiated a domestic war against Vietnam War dissenters. Your editorial (“Law must prevail over force,” June 12) states: “Trump openly admires foreign strongmen who put down dissent.” So did Nixon, whose rhetoric (remember the “silent majority”?) instigated the Ohio National Guard to open fire on Vietnam War protesters on May 4, 1970. And Nixon basically exonerated the Ohio National Guard! Trump has gone much further than Nixon did! As the editorial states that “he wants very badly for there to be escalation, as that gives him additional latitude to crack down.” Nixon wanted the same escalation in 1970 so he could crack down on Vietnam War protesters! If there was never a Nixon, I doubt that Trump would have won two presidential elections! Philip Martone
Mass opposition
Queens Village: Saturday was No Kings Day in all 50 states — more than 2,000 cities large and small. Hey, King Donald, it’s check and checkmate! The drink of the day is the Orange Crush! Lawrence Krasner
Military posturing
Woodbury, N.Y.: So, this country has thousands of veterans without homes or eligible for medical care, thousands of families that can’t provide food, clothing, shoes or health care for their children, and thousands of people without the means to support themselves, but has millions of dollars to put on a parade for a man who doesn’t care about all of the above. SAD! Cindy O’Connor
Spending priorities
Monroe Township, N.J.: So many people up in arms over Trump’s spending for a parade for the Army. Not a word about the boatloads of money spent on housing, feeding and all the giveaways to all the criminals who crossed the border and invaded our country. Good to see they have their priorities in order. John Ray
Singular focus
Easton, Pa.: For four years, we had a president who couldn’t tie his shoelaces, let unvetted immigrants into our country, was kept hidden from the public, did nothing about antisemitism, allowed wars to happen and wasn’t actually running the country, and all the Democrats are upset about is the parade! Yikes! Barbara Cusano
Lack of patriotism
Manhattan: Not that there were any doubts, but once again, the broadcast media showed its left-wing contempt for all things patriotic and American. Since the Revolutionary War, more than 2 million men and women in our military have died in combat and other ways, yet only Fox News televised and honored the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army parade, while other channels showed football, hockey, basketball, golf, etc. Although polls have shown an alarming lack of patriotism amongst recent generations — the target audience of broadcasters, perhaps — thankfully, a majority of Americans appreciate our military as America’s most precious blood and are thankful for its service. John Brindisi
Freedom’s fighters
Long Beach, L.I.: There was no need for CNN to give airtime to the D.C. protesters who probably never served. It was disgraceful during the 250th U.S. Army parade honoring the military service that was born before we were a country. CNN continues to politicize everything. It is part of the problem dividing our country. If it wasn’t for our brave servicemen and women, they wouldn’t have the right to protest, waving foreign flags, and shouldn’t have been acknowledged. No wonder CNN is in trouble. God bless our troops and God bless America. Arlene Reilly
The new nuclear
Hoffman Estates, Ill.: The budget reconciliation bill has a tax carveout for nuclear fission facilities but has no tax credits for nuclear fusion reactors. Unlike fission, fusion has no nuclear waste and no danger of a meltdown. By mimicking the sun’s heat creation process, fusion will create limitless clean energy. Several companies are knocking at the door of fusion realization. Yet, according to Heatmap Daily, under this bill, “fusion is defined and regulated as a separate class of zero-emission technology, thus excluding it from the nuclear carveout in the budget bill,” and, “If the Senate approves the House’s version of the clean energy investment and production tax credits, fusion energy will be subject to the same tight restrictions as other clean energy solutions. The timeline for credit eligibility requires energy projects to begin construction a mere 60 days after the bill’s passage, and be placed in service by 2029. That is essentially impossible for any of the fusion companies out there.” Jim Arneberg
Breezy rides
Middle Village: Has anyone noticed that most of the windows on the MTA buses are all wide open in this warm weather? Robert Chirieleison
