Letter to the Editor: Congressional Candidate Says Frelinghuysen is Wrong on Health Care

Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen's response to the passage of the historic health care bill last Sunday night is disingenuous at best. Shortly after the bill's passage, Frelinghuysen said that "the status quo" of health care was not good enough. Then, while announcing his re-election bid, he declared that he supports "health care reform."
 
Unfortunately, he's a little late. If Frelinghuysen believes that the health care system needs fixing, why has he not stepped up to the plate and introduced his own health care legislation? Now, after-the-fact, he talks about the need to reform. 
 
This is typical of a Washington insider. Having been there for 16 years, Frelinghuysen is very content with the "status quo." He talks about fixing things, but does not. When President Obama called for bipartisan input into the creation of the health care bill, Frelinghuysen offered none. Then, after casting his vote against health care reform, he talks about supporting it.

I promise you I will not go to Washington just to engage in empty debate and meaningless rhetoric. I will go there to work to find solutions to the problems and issues affecting the hard working people of the 11th District.

The health care bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Sunday may not be perfect, but it's a great start. It is certainly better for Congress to act and pass health care reform than to let the cost of our insurance premiums continue to escalate skyward, especially while health insurance companies continue to pocket record profits by denying us coverage. With this bill, more New Jerseyans in the 11th District and their children will now have health insurance and a brighter future. Moreover, the health insurance companies that take our hard earned dollars will now have to provide us with what we paid them for: health coverage.

DOUGLAS HERBERT

NJ-11 congressional candidate, Chatham Borough