Republicans: Blind opposition

It was painful to watch the Republicans make fools of themselves during the House of Representatives debate leading up to Sunday night's vote on health insurance reform legislation. During the time I worked for Senate Republicans 30 years ago, Republican congressional leadership was in the hands of people like Howard Baker, Robert Dole, Mark Hatfield and the man I worked for, Sen. Henry Bellmon of Oklahoma. In the House there were pragmatic Republican leaders like Barber Conable of New York. These were all Republicans who made decisions on the basis of what was best for the country rather than which party generated the idea. Today's Republican leaders seem to have forgotten how to work with the Democrats to achieve progress for the nation.

Republicans have occupied the White House for 20 of the past 29 years. The problem of millions of Americans being without health insurance has been festering throughout that time. No Republican president has done more than tinker at the edges of the problem. The last two Democratic presidents have tackled the problem head-on. Democrats Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson led the way in establishing Social Security and Medicare providing income support and health care for millions of the most vulnerable Americans. When it comes to government helping better the lives of Americans, the Democrats often must lead in the face of vicious rumors and lies.

It is really too bad that Republicans have chosen a course of blind opposition rather than cooperating.

ROBERT FULTON, Patton, Mo.