Cornyn intimidating; scare tactic; ban, don’t regulate; for smoking ban

Cornyn intimidating

I disagree with your editorial describing Sen. John Cornyn as fair and impartial in his questioning of James Comey (“Cornyn fair when questioning Comey,” Sunday).

I found his questions intimidating.

I suspect Cornyn will not be the first Republican to disavow the Trump.

He has not criticized the president for his disastrous orders and actions.

President Trump called Comey a “nut job” and a “liar.”

There is a psychiatric term for that: projection.

Scare tactic

Cynthia M. Allen’s column uses the scare tactic the fossil fuel industry used close to 40 years ago to discredit renewable energy when President Carter was in office (“Many unwilling to make sacrifices for pollution reduction,” Friday).

The energy tech advances made since the 1980s are enormous.

The easiest way to reduce carbon emissions is to buy home electricity from a renewable source.

I expect most Texans don’t know what they pay per kilowatt-hour.

There might be a small increase for wind power, but in a recent case, changing to wind cut the user’s bill in half.

I hope readers will check their bills and determine if renewable energy is an option, since we vote with our dollars.

Saying our standard of living must be reduced to reduce carbon emissions is fake news.

Ban, don’t regulate

The Editorial Board praised state Sen. Kelly Hancock’s Senate Bill 507, allowing victims of unexpected medical billing to seek remediation through the Texas Department of Insurance (“Here’s a good medical billing change for Texas,” June 2).

The editorial stated, “Laws like this represent the best work of Texas lawmakers.”

I beg to differ. If this represents the “best work of Texas lawmakers,” Texans are in trouble.

Sen. Hancock should actually fix the problem.

The last thing someone recuperating from an emergency room visit or hospital stay wants to do is go through the headache and rigmarole of contesting the bill via mediation.

Patients should be able to focus their energies on getting well, not fighting with the insurance companies and corresponding with the Texas Department of Insurance.

If Hancock really wants to protect consumers from “balance billing” and surprise billing, then he should introduce legislation that will make these billing practices illegal. Period!

If someone gets treated at an in-network facility, then under no circumstances should that individual be billed for out-of-network charges.

For smoking ban

The tobacco pushers have once again brought their nicotine-tainted dog and pony show to Arlington! (“Nightclubs file lawsuit to stop Arlington’s new smoking ban,” May 27).

We heard their nonsense in the early 1990s, after the Arlington city council wisely banned smoking in restaurants. They claimed that protecting the health, safety and welfare of the people would hurt revenues.

Smoking bans have always been good for business in every city where they have been legislated. Arlington has seen and will see the same positive results.

This story was originally published June 13, 2017 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Cornyn intimidating; scare tactic; ban, don’t regulate; for smoking ban."