Just another outrage from insurance industry You wouldn’t think this could possibly be true in a civilized country, but in eight states and the District of Columbia a victim of domestic violence can legally be denied health care insurance. That’s right, in North and South Carolina, North and South Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Idaho, Wyoming, and Washington, D.   Full Story

The health care debate continues, tonight As the health care debate has unfolded over the past few months, I have been listening to the various opinions put forth, pro and con. Some people think that health care should be a privilege, a commodity, remain tied to a job, and to make sure the insurance companies can have a tidy profit margin.   Full Story

The new N-word? Where did this come from? Well, from MSNBC, of course. MSNBC anchor Carlos Watson had this little gem for listeners last Monday: "... you start to wonder whether in fact the word socialist is becoming a code word, whether or not socialist is becoming the new N-word for frankly for some angry upset birthers and others.   Full Story

Condemning Bushway Packing The Vermont Veterinary Medical Association condemns any act of cruelty perpetrated on an animal by an individual, agency, or commercial enterprise. The actions that allegedly occurred at Bushway Packing Inc. are inexcusable and undermine public trust in the safety of our food supply and compliance with laws pertaining to humane slaughter.   Full Story

Stand up to the ‘barons’ on health care reform A letter in the Banner maintained that drug companies research must be sustained by large profits. It’s not true. Nor does the average employee at the hospital need to be making $80,000 a year. Nor does the new CEO need to be making $382,000 a year.   Full Story

The iron is hot for health care reform We are approaching D-Day on health care reform. If each small boat had had to pay for its own equipment, the Allied Forces would never have landed at Normandy to begin the end of World War II. Our political representatives keep telling us that the process of reform is very complex and thus it will take much negotiation to reach anything approaching   Full Story

Obama is our president In response to James McAward's letter on President Obama in the Nov. 4 paper. Often ignorance like this is the result of closed-mindedness. You say President Obama denigrates our country every chance he gets, but maybe what's really going on is that you're not really listening.   Full Story

Thursday, June 11 Send letters and columns to the Bennington Banner: by mail to 425 Main St., Bennington, VT 05201; by e-mail to news@benningtonbanner.com (no attachments, please); by fax to 802-442-3413. We may edit any letter or column for length, style or content, and reserve the right to reject letters or columns as not suitable.   Full Story