Opinion

Outgoing Congress still has time to act on PBM reform

GUEST COLUMN, Kenneth E. Thorpe, Health Policy professor, Emory University

Insurers and healthcare middlemen are making it harder for everyday Americans, including many living with chronic diseases, to access the prescription drugs they need.

Fortunately, Congress and President Biden can address the problem by passing two bipartisan reforms during the current "lame duck" legislative session. For us Democrats, this is a chance to build on the historic progress we've already made toward healthcare access and affordability for all Americans.

Funny how realignment happens when power changes hands

L&T Publisher Earl Watt

Thomas Jefferson so strongly believed in limited federal government, that he refused to declare a national day of Thanksgiving as president. Strange, since he did declare a day of Thanksgiving when he was governor of Virginia.

Jefferson’s chief political rival was John Adams with Alexander Hamilton not far behind. The biggest reason was the differing views on the power of the federal government and the power of state governments. Jefferson was very concerned about an out-of-control federal government where Adams believed a strong central government was needed to keep the nation in tact.

The barn box

GUEST COLUMN, Kim Baldwin, Kansas Farm Bureau

My father-in-law called me on a recent Friday night to let me know the first three lambs of the season had arrived. The triplets were born in the pasture and would need to be brought up to the barn and kept in the nursery pens to make sure all three lambs would be claimed by the mother and that they’d all get plenty of milk in their first few days.

When I got the call, my family was in the process of getting ready to make a trip to town to go out to dinner and then catch a movie together.

Biden and Trump agree, America’s justice system is not fair

L&T Publisher Earl Watt

I don’t fault President Joe Biden for pardoning his son Hunter. That’s why parents aren’t allowed to negotiate with terrorists. Parents would give away the nuclear codes to help a child who is facing an execution. Others may die because parents give millions of dollars to save a child held by a terrorist, but a parent can’t see the consequences of their actions. They are singly focused on saving their own child.

Biden did the same thing for his child in a way. Facing certain jail time, Hunter Biden was not a hostage, but he was found guilty of several federal crimes.

One more sun

THE POSTSCRIPT, Carrie Classon

It is an unusual living situation, in many ways.

My husband, Peter, and I spend almost half the year down in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We had a terrible experience in another town (an absentee American owner with a filthy rental) and we came running back to San Miguel, desperate to find a place to stay — any place that was clean and halfway affordable. And that is how Jorge found us.