Letters to the editor for Saturday, May 6, 2017

A note to Congressman Amodei

Congressman,

Just a couple of weeks ago you stood in front of 500 at a town hall asking for us to give you credit for coming out publicly against the AHCA. This was credit you deserved. You had come out stating that the bill would hurt Nevadans and their families. Shortly afterward you sat with a small group of constituents, including myself, and explained at length why that bill was bad for Nevadan families and why you “would only vote for a bill you could bring back to Nevada and defend to your constituents.”

Yet, this past week while the new and even worse version of the AHCA was being debated you refused to come out against it. Up until Wednesday afternoon your staff in Reno and D.C. was telling constituents on the phone that you were a “no” vote.

On Thursday morning you voted “yes” on the AHCA; a law that will result in hundreds of thousands of Nevadans losing their insurance in the next two years, put unnecessary strain on our hospitals and emergency care centers, and turn back significant progress we’ve made in Nevada over the last few years under the ACA.

My question for you is: Why? Why would you tell your constituents for months that you would not vote for a bill that would cause undue harm then turn around and vote for it? Whose pocket are you in? It definitely wasn’t your constituents who changed your mind. Who did?

Ryan Budman

Reno