Letters - Senator Lieberman and the Health Care Uproar - NYTimes.com Re "Lieberman Gets Ex-Party to Shift on Health Plan" (front page, Dec. 15): Since Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and the health care lobby have succeeded in gutting the reform bill of anything resembling reform, I propose the following: Kill the current Senate bill, as Howard Dean suggested ("Health Care Talks Show Sharp Democratic Divide," news article, Dec. 16). It is no longer health care reform, and with the mandates in place it represents a huge transfer from taxpayers to the health insurance industry. Then go back to the drawing board and pass a simpler health care reform package with the following components: First, lower the Medicare age to 55. Second, give Medicare serious bargaining power over the drug companies and health care providers. Finally, enact real tort reform. This is doable and more affordable than the Senate bill, and it would definitely start to "bend the curve" and reduce costs. It would also take a huge amount of pressure off American companies and help to jump-start the economy. Aaron Thomas Seattle, Dec. 16, 2009 Re "The Million-Dollar Man" (editorial, Dec. 16): I'm old enough that I can remember when Senator Joseph I. Lieberman was generally considered a man of integrity. It is sad to see him descend to his current "le Sénat, c'est moi" attitude. Of course, as you note in your editorial, a million dollars can be persuasive. But I would not describe Mr. Lieberman as an independent. He is behaving like a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry and bringing no credit on himself as he moves toward the end of his long career. Theodore S. Voelker Copake, N.Y., Dec. 16, 2009