This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

It is starting to seem as though Donald Trump tweets to keep the media occupied with his petty opinions about anyone or anything that he disfavors. In the meantime, important news is often obscured or missed. Such is the case with Sen. Orrin Hatch and a few Republican senators who are drafting legislation to overturn the Affordable Care Act. They are doing it in secret. No information to the public, no public comment and input and no sharing with other legislators in the Senate.

I've listened to Trump talk favorably about Putin and the Russians long before he was elected. I didn't realize this special friendship with the Russians would result in secret government meetings as they hold in Moscow.

Health care is important to most of us and deserves to be openly discussed. Better yet, it'd be novel for Hatch to listen to his constituents about what they would want the law to do since it's our lives and those of our family and friends that will likely be affected.

Hatch claims he hopes to have a new law in place affecting millions of us in the next six weeks. So far, we have a House bill that results in 23 million people losing health care and rich people getting more tax breaks.

It took two years to pass Obamacare, and there were hundreds of open public meetings, and passage of amendments, sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats. That is how we have been governed in the past. Seems like our leaders are adopting the Russian ways of conducting government.

Bob Klarich

St. George