Costello, Smucker appear to buck Trump, back bipartisan healthcare plan
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
Two local congressman — Lloyd Smucker and Ryan Costello — say a moderate, bipartisan group of House members they belong to, the Problem Solvers Caucus, have reached an agreement on a package of fixes for the Affordable Care Act, a package that could provide a framework for a true bipartisan fix for the healthcare marketplace.
After the U.S. Senate rejected a series...
Letter: Trump turns US into rogue climate state
To The Editor,
Trump has withdrawn the US from the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump has turned the US into a rogue climate state.
Trump is lying to us and the rest of the world about Global Warming/Climate Change (GW/CC) and the supposedly negative economic consequences to the US had the US not withdrawn.
Fortunately, the US does have progressive, forward thinking, fact-based leaders at other levels...
After 156 years, I’m no longer the worst
By James Buchanan, The 15th President of The United States
Whew. It’s been a really long 156 years, but I have to say, but finally it feels pretty darn good.
Although there have been so many enjoyable experiences in my post-life times — wherever you’d call where I am, I don’t know, but the Cosmopolitans are to die for, so to speak — I’m no longer stuck with the title “Worst President...
Costello, Meehan dodge bullet on health care bill failure
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
In the end — for at least two of Chester County’s members of Congress — the decision to withdraw the American Health Care Act, the Republican’s much touted replacement for the Affordable Care Act (known more commonly as Obamacare) may have ended up as the best of a lot of bad possible outcomes.
Both Ryan Costello (R-6) and Pat Meehan (R-7) said following the...
Chesco Congress members feeling heat on health care vote
At last count, Meehan, Costello and Smucker appear to be yes votes
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
The fate of a controversial health care reform bill may end up in the hands of local members of the U.S. Congress — as two of them were seen as being on the fence on the bill but now said to be leaning toward “yes” votes — as the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans scramble to...
Congress members can’t hide from the voters
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
The phone rang the other night during dinner, it was a phone “town hall” for U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan (R-7) — I happen to live in the 7th — but the timing was lousy and as a practicing journalist, I kind of feel like it is inappropriate as a journalist to participate in such events.
And to be honest — Meehan and his colleagues need to put on their big boy pants...
A brave new world for local Congress members
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
It is a brave (cough-cough) new world for some of our elected officials — specifically the three gentlemen who hold congressional seats in Chester County and find themselves coming home to districts this week they may not recognize.
Yes — we’ll grant everything is new for U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, who is little more than a month in from joining the world’s most...
Silence equals assent
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
And so it begins.
President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order halting border crossings from seven Muslim-majority nations as new “extreme vetting” procedures are being put in place. The fact that not one terrorist attack in the U.S. has come from folks from those nations, seems less germane than a rush to do something, anything — despite no credible threat,...
Letter: Health coverage a necessity for all
To the Editor:
In his first day of office, President Trump has already begun to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
As a citizen, a resident of southern Chester County, and a leader of a non-profit providing health care to the underserved, I must speak out on the critical role that having health insurance plays in the success of individuals, families, and communities. I’d like to first speak from...
Letter: The Times, citizens need to be vigilant
To The Editor,
I am writing to encourage The Times of Chester County to remain an independent news organization that fact-checks statements made by all politicians (particularly the president-elect) and exposes false statements clearly while reporting on any issue. The president-elect has consistently derogated news sources that disagree with him or his positions.
However, our success as a democracy...
