Op-Eds
There’s been a lot of talk about winners and losers since health care reform has become the law of the land. However, the real winners are the American people, and in particular, people who live in New Jersey.
It's hardly surprising that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court recently suggested that he and his associates should sit out future State of the Union speeches.
Of all the great plays during 2009 NFL regular season, my favorite was made by the league itself.
It was a car accident victim who couldn’t get the right medical treatment because her insurance company wouldn’t cover it. It was a family who agonized over their finances when their health insurance premiums increased more than 150 percent.
A health care insurance co-op would work well if you’re on Wall Street.
Carl MacDonald, a health industry analyst for Oppenheimer and Co., said in June that the creation of co-ops would be a “big positive” for publically traded insurance companies that own managed care groups. Remember the HMO’s, folks?
On Monday I had the distinct honor of joining President Barack Obama at the White House for a ceremony that established a new national park at the Great Falls, consecrating Paterson’s transformative role in American history.
The deadly attacks in Mumbai last month were a grim reminder of how easily a terrorist strike can rock a nation and send shockwaves rippling around the globe. With Sept. 11, 2001, forever fresh in our minds, Americans empathize with the Indian people. We understand India's security challenges, pledge our support and pray for its resiliency.
EARLIER this week I made the difficult decision to oppose a financial bailout bill that did not adequately serve the middle-class families and small businesses hit hardest by the credit crisis.
EVERY AUGUST, I expand my community outreach program deeper into the 21 Passaic and Essex county municipalities that make up the 8th Congressional District. With such a diverse constituency, I always return to Washington in September with a long and pretty incongruous list of each community's different priorities.
THE HOUSING MARKET collapse that is ravaging working-class families will go down as one of the greatest economic failures in modern American history. It is estimated by the nonpartisan Pew Center for the States that between 7,000 and 8,000 families are filing for foreclosure on their homes every day.
It should come as no surprise that seven years of misguided economic policies have caused the mighty American economy to become unsound and unsteady. Tax cuts targeted to the wealthiest few; carefree deficit spending and reckless industrial deregulation have all created an inviting climate for a damaging economic storm to come thundering down.
Veterans Day is a time for Americans to come together and honor the millions of brave military men and women who have served our nation. They are the foundation of our freedom. Without their valiant service and sacrifice, America would not shine as the beacon of hope and opportunity that nations around the world aspire to become.
IN RECENT YEARS, American families have found their economic circumstances increasingly perilous. Many workers face wage stagnation or prolonged unemployment, and fewer people have guaranteed pensions, causing justified worries about retirement.
PEOPLE ARE SICK and dying as a result of the contamination in the air after Sept. 11. In the six years since the attacks, a mountain of evidence exists telling us that thousands of people exposed to the air around the World Trade Center are suffering from chronic respiratory disease and cancers.
In 1962 President John F. Kennedy said, "The vows of this nation can only be fulfilled if we are first, and therefore, we intend to be first. Our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort."
The mere end of tax season brings a measure of relief for each of us, as an arduous burden is over for another year. Unfortunately, this fleeting relief actually does a disservice, lulling many into a temporary complacency. While most Americans aren't pondering what they will owe the government next year, a serious financial threat is looming over them.
Almost four and a half years ago -- Oct. 11, 2002 -- I stood on the floor of the House of Representatives along with 295 of my colleagues to vote in support of the resolution authorizing President Bush to attack Iraq. I have since regretted that vote deeply. I admitted to the residents of my district over a year and a half ago that I made a mistake, taking total responsibility for my vote.