Joe Guidry is the deputy editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune. He is a Tampa native and a graduate of the University of South Florida. He is married and has an adult son.

Jeff Stidham

Jeff Stidham grew up and lives in Bartow. He has been with the Tribune for nearly 22 years, the last 10 on the editorial board.

William Yelverton

William Yelverton is a Tribune editorial writer who has worked for the paper nearly 22 years. He lives in the Dade City area.

Jim Beamguard

Jim Beamguard is a Tribune editorial writer. He is a native of North Carolina and a graduate of Davidson College. He and his family live in Brandon.

Jackie Papandrew:

Jackie Papandrew is a freelance writer and editor. Her syndicated humor column appears in publications in the United States, Canada and India. She lives in Largo with her husband and children. Visit her website at www.jackiepapandrew.com.

Camille Beredjick

Camille Beredjick is a senior at Chamberlain High School, an avid musician and a scribbler with a quirky sense of humor. In the fall, she will be attending Northwestern University to study journalism, political science and music, and she plans to pursue a career in journalism.

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Angela Hunt

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Sheryl Young

Sheryl Young was a Tampa Tribune Community Columnist in 2005-2006. A freelance writer since 1997, including the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Tampa Style Magazines, St. Pete Times and nationally in Better Nutrition, Today’s Christian Woman and more. She’s received a First Place Amy Foundation national "Roaring Lambs" Writing Award, and has lived in Tampa Bay with her family for over 20 years.

Christie Gold

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Natalie D. Preston

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Interests include humor, politics, economics, community and world affairs, finance, people, religion, music, sports, current events, the arts and education.

Nicole Yunger Halpern

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Kris DiGiovanni

Kris DiGiovanni is a Tribune Community Columnist, Huffington Post contributor, Daily Kos diarist, and teacher, who recently moved from NW Hillsborough to another planet - a small beach community in Pinellas County. She also blogs at www.sandscript.wordpress.com

H. David Braswell Jr.

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Sean Marcus teaches creative writing, journalism and reading at Chamberlain High School. He has one son and is expecting a daughter in early March. He can be reached at wuizabug@gmail.com

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Just Say NO to Drugs - and Surgery, CT Scans, Office Visits…

Posted Feb 19, 2010 by Kris DiGiovanni

Updated Feb 19, 2010 at 05:56 PM

There’s an old saying about managers. “They can’t tell you exactly what they want, but they can sure tell you what they don’t like about what you did”

By that definition, the Republican party has decided that they are in charge of managing the Health Insurance Reform Process. They haven’t told anyone how they think it should be done, but are insisting that the Democrats come up with a plan that meets their expectations.

A prime example of this behavior is the the Health Insurance Reform Summit the President is hosting on the 24th. The Republican’s have been screaming pretty much from the get-go about having been “shut out” of the process. So Obama has said, in effect, ‘Sorry you feel that way. Bring me what you’ve got and I promise to listen.’ He wants to make sure the public sees the Republican’s ideas, too. The invitation to the summit contained the following:

“It is the President’s hope that the Republican congressional leadership will also put forward their own comprehensive bill to achieve those goals and make it available online as well.”

So how did the Republican’s respond? They declined.

“We will not be offering a comprehensive bill,”

This from said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

They’ve been advised by conservative think tank government relations manager Michael Franc, to avoid public negotiation. They take this stance while at the same time, whining that the current legislation is “predicated upon backdoor dealing.”

Obama has responded to criticism the he has not been specific enough on what he thinks should be in the plan by announcing that the proposal he will post online Monday will contain elements from both the House and Senate bills and “put a stop to insurance company abuses, extend coverage to millions of Americans, get control of skyrocketing premiums and out-of-pocket costs and reduce the deficit.”

Yet, despite the fact that the proposal hasn’t been seen by anyone yet, the apparently clairvoyant House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) has already made up his mind.

“We will say no,” he announced today, “because that’s what the American people want.”

He’s obviously a fan of Mike Pence, (R-IN) who told the CPAC,

´‘No’ is way underrated here in Washington, D.C. Sometimes ‘No’ is just what this town needs to hear.”

Well, isn’t it nice that certain elected officials think that they’ve held elected office long enough to be able to read people’s minds? Isn’t it just peachy that they feel they can just say “no” because it’s not said often enough in the hallowed halls of congress? Isn’t it just hunky-dory that they feel obligated to reject an proposed reform purely on principle, regardless of its merits.

Me – I just don’t understand how these sworn “public servants” can behave this way – especially right after a major insurer says it “needs” to raise it’s premiums almost 40%, although it made $2.7 billion dollars profit in just the last three months on 2009.

I don’t understand how they can take that position after reading an email from a a dear friend, a colon cancer survivor, telling me she is now uninsured because she can no longer afford the latest increase in premiums.

I don’t understand how Republican leaders can stubbornly demand “something else,” but can’t tell us what that is - when they know that health insurance premiums for employees have doubled in the last 9 years. Now that my husband, at least, has a job, we have some insurance, but it costs us more each month than we spend on food.

I don’t understand it at all.
I guess I wouldn’t make a very good Republican.

Contact the author at KrisDiGiovanni at gmail dot com or on FaceBook

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