Opinion: CT Democrats are playing politics with health of residents

CT Democrats are playing politics with health of residents

By Len Fasano

Op-ed as it appeared in the Connecticut Post

A recent op-ed by Democrat leaders (Sept. 9, “State must put public health above politics”) purposely misleads the public with accusations that Connecticut Republicans put public health at risk by rejecting a five-month extension of some of Gov. Ned Lamont’s emergency powers.

Those statements are not only completely false, but show how Connecticut Democrats, per their usual playbook in never letting a good crisis go to waste, are using a public health crisis and stoking fear to play politics instead of putting people first.

When Republicans voted against extending Gov. Lamont’s emergency powers we asked for checks and balances. We argued that giving complete power to one person for nearly a year was never the intention of our state’s laws and set a terrible precedent. We asked for a seat at the table to represent the voices of the advocates and constituents and contribute to executive orders before they are issued, much like what occurred in the early days of the pandemic that had successful results. We asked for the ability to appeal executive orders moving forward, as a mechanism to encourage collaboration.

We then voted against extending the small portion of the governor’s emergency powers that legislators can vote on. Even if we were successful in getting Democrats to vote with us to cancel this extension, the much broader civil preparedness emergency declaration would have remained in place. That means no orders would have been overturned or automatically disappeared leaving us vulnerable, because the legislature did not have the power to make that happen. What rejecting the extension of the governor’s public health emergency powers would have accomplished is bringing attention to the need for collaboration.

Instead of acknowledging these facts, Democrats would rather fear monger and mislead the public on where Republicans stand in a typical an attempt to sway people when facts are not on your side.

Republicans believe our state would greatly benefit from having more voices, including those of experts, advocates and stakeholders, at the decision-making table. While Connecticut is doing much better than other states on overall infections, we cannot ignore that some of Gov. Lamont’s decisions have also failed the most vulnerable. With those executive orders, Connecticut saw the rate of nursing home deaths nearly double what other states did and Connecticut has halted testing in nursing homes after 14 days of no reported infections, leaving the most vulnerable at risk of getting the virus from asymptomatic individuals — a warning even Gov. Lamont’s own independent third-party investigator has raised.

Are Democrats OK with executive orders that have put the most vulnerable at risk? Do Democrats support Gov. Lamont no longer providing PPE to home health care workers? Are they in favor of Gov. Lamont extending legal immunity for nursing homes, despite some Democrat lawmakers calling to end it? Or is it that they are afraid of taking responsibility for making important decisions? Either answer is unacceptable.

If Democrats truly believe in the lip service they spout to constituents, they would be just as concerned about unfettered power for one individual as Republicans are. But instead they do nothing. They would rather run their mouths but let the governor make the tough decisions and avoid any blame or responsibility themselves. Republicans strongly disagree with that do-nothing attitude when the public and the most vulnerable need a voice.

Finally, I must address the Democratic leaders’ misleading comments on affordable health care. Connecticut Republicans have repeatedly proposed legislation to reduce the costs of health care, even the liberal AccessHealthCT agreed the GOP healthcare bill can reduce premiums by 20 percent. But for years Democrats allowed that bill to sit on their desk and do nothing because Republicans having a solution is simply unacceptable to them. The Affordable Care Act is not working today because it was only funded by Congress for three years and Connecticut Democrats never made it a priority afterward. That’s why premiums have skyrocketed. More people may be “insured” today because of Medicaid expansion, but Medicaid is not the quality care we were promised by the Affordable Care Act — ask anyone suffering in a nursing home from low Medicaid reimbursement rates; a fact confirmed by the governor’s independent third-party consultant. Democrats like talking about health care as an election issue, maybe that’s why they have failed to pursue real solutions.

While Gov. Lamont continues to make unilateral decisions, Democrat lawmakers paralyzed with fear have failed to do anything except step aside, watch which way the wind blows and then comment. Republicans believe you can’t lead from behind. “We the people” need to have a voice.