Democratic values

A contributor writes a regular column for the Winter Park Times about Republican issues.  He calls it the Right Stuff.  We democrats in Grand County believe in the right stuff also.  Here are some of the values that drive our efforts at doing the right stuff.

We believe that, if you work hard, you deserve the opportunity to earn a good life.

We believe all children in Colorado deserve a high-quality education regardless of family income or zip code.

We believe in rewarding businesses that create jobs here in Colorado and do right by their workers.

We believe in clean air and water, and support moving to renewable energy.

We believe that everyone should be treated equally under the law and everyone should have the freedom to make their own choices.

We believe that we all have a responsibility to ourselves, our families and our communities.   

We believe that we all have the power to change Colorado for the better.  One way of doing that is to improve and fix the issues of the Affordable Care Act.  This provided essential health care services to people who couldn’t afford the high premiums for insurance in the individual market.  The ACA was not a free handout.  It provided various levels of insurance coverage at different (but reasonable) price points with subsidies for those in dire economic circumstances.

Prior to receiving Medicare, my payments for an individual policy through Anthem totaled $13,076 out of pocket before I even got a dime of coverage from the insurance carrier.  Who can afford this?  As Americans we deserve reasonably priced health care coverage.

John Riedel

Full-time resident of Granby, Colorado