Repealing ObamaCare won’t be an option for GOP

To the editor:

Republican members of Congress, running on promises to repeal the health care reform law, are counting on their constituents not having read the Constitution.

If the Republicans succeed in getting a majority of both houses in the upcoming elections, they will have enough votes to repeal. But that's not the end of the process.

A president has veto power over all legislation, and Obama would surely veto the repeal. Legislation vetoed by a president goes back to Congress. Then, In order to override a presidential veto, a two-thirds majority of both houses is required. That's where repeal fails.

Even if the Republicans obtain a two-thirds majority in the House, which is in doubt, it is numerically impossible to obtain a two-thirds majority in the Senate. The Republicans would have to win all 19 Democratic seats up for re-election to reach a total of 60 seats. They have only 41 seats now. Do the math.

Two-thirds of 100 is 67. Repeal will fail, and voters, too late, will realize they have been badly misled.

Republicans are also counting on their constituents knowing very little history.

The Republicans tried repeatedly to repeal Social Security after it was passed under Franklin Roosevelt. They also attempted to repeal Medicare, passed under the Johnson administration. All attempts failed.

The writers of our Constitution made sure that laws could not be overturned by a simple majority vote. Think of the chaos in the legal system if laws could be repealed so easily -- each party repealing the laws passed by the other.

Carolyn Robins

Las Vegas

Student tuition

To the editor:

In response to Len Kreisler's Wednesday letter on university tuition:

I wonder if Mr. Kreisler's entitled children for whom he paid tuition would be willing to pay the tuition of a community college student. Past tuition hikes in this state are bringing the cost of education to the point where only the wealthy will be able to get a higher education.

Not one student I have at CSN believes he is "entitled" to education -- most of them are working at least one job to pay for their education. They strive to become educated for better salaries, better work hours, or personal fulfillment -- and they are struggling to pay for it.

Tuition and fee hikes are regressive taxes, taxing those trying to improve themselves when they have the least amount of resources with which to pay. It is, at best, disingenuous that Mr. Kreisler says students should "wake up to the working people's situation." These students are working people, and without state funding to support higher education these working students might very well end up unemployed, bankrupt and devoid of opportunities.

In today's economic climate, many laid off workers are trying to retool; they can't afford to pay the full cost of getting certificates and degrees. They are unable to borrow because the credit market has dried up. If this state wants to be prosperous in the future, we need more workers and workers need education.

To Mr. Kreisler and others I say, wake up and smell the desperation and fear of a community college student barely able to pay tuition who waited semesters to get the needed classes due to overcrowding, and stood in line to pay $500 for textbooks realizing they will be living on Ramen all month, and then tell me who is able to afford 40 percent more in tuition next semester.

Denise Signorelli

Las Vegas

The writer is a biology professor at the College of Southern Nevada.