All Entries in the "Op-ed" Category
Single payer: A common sense approach to health care
By Leigh Dakin Nationally, health care has emerged as a central issue in this election. Rightly so, with nearly 50 million Americans without health insurance and the cost of insurance and health care growing much faster than our incomes. The United States spends far more on health care than any other country: on average $8,000 […]
A Tale of Two Towns: Chester PA & Chester VT
By Sandy Stiassni While I have childhood memories of Chester, VT as an exceptionally fine place to live, set apart from banal Big-Box retail communities that have come to comprise so much of small town and suburban life in America, I’ve known another Chester, in a different locale and with a different character. As a […]
An unforgettable childhood in 1960s Chester
By Sandy Stiassni Like many New York Times readers, I read Abby Goodnough’s arresting article about the Dollar General plan to colonize Chester. It brought back treasured early youth snapshots. My grandparents were Chester residents. They become naturalized in the1940s, having emigrated as holocaust survivors from war-occupied Brno, now in Czech Republic. My grandfather, a […]
CVPS must repay ratepayers $21 million
By Leigh Dakin The repayment of the $21 million loan to CVPS from ratepayers has emerged as a hot issue in the closing days of this legislative session. Early on, I joined as a co-sponsor of the House bill to require this repayment. For me, this is a simple question of fairness and fulfilling a […]
Commentary: Vaccines can help keep rising health-care costs down
By Leigh Dakin Many issues that come before the State House require balancing personal freedoms against the public good. In areas that involve health, the public good includes who will pay the cost of medical treatment. Currently, the state and federal governments are the payers of last resort, but the current system is unsustainable. An […]
