Letters to the editor
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 10:48 AM PDT
Donate winter coats and clothes to charity
Editor,
So we are all in the same boat. That means low economy and tight budget. Well, look around you, and you will find someone who is in worse shape — right next door or a few houses down the street. There is always something you can do for someone else, usually you have your health and they don’t ... see what I’m saying? Think about helping your neighbor, make a friend and feel better about yourself. It is the best gift you can give, and it only takes some time and a bit of effort. Mow a lawn, rake some leaves, carry some grocery bags in for that person, change a light bulb — and find out what is really important in this life. If you lost your job, volunteer to help at a shelter or a group home. Go through your old winter coats and clothes and donate to those who can distribute them. Idaho Youth Ranch, Project Dove or a church near your home will be glad to get the help, and you will no!t feel helpless. The volunteer work will help you meet other people who may turn out to need a worker like you. The best gifts are from the heart.
Susie Kropp
Ontario
Kudos to Mary Cordova, Payette city officials
Editor,
I live on Seventh Avenue North in Payette. I would like to thank our city clerk, Mary Cordova, and the mayor, Doug Henderson, for the effort they put forth to get the light at Seventh Avenue North and were so involved in getting the road widened. At first, when it all started, I griped right along with others who felt the light needed to be somewhere else on Highway 95 and the road didn’t need to be widened.
I didn’t want the road torn up in front of my house, causing me to be inconvenienced for those months. I called down to the city and complained to Mary Cordova and Bobbie Black more then a few times. Each time they would explain what was going on and were always very kind. I guess I complained to Mary more than to anyone, and she never tried to put me off. I would like to thank them for being so kind and understanding through the whole process of doing the road. It is so much better widening this road. I am glad they had the insight to do the road and fight for the light. There is a lot of traffic on Seventh Avenue North now, and the sidewalks allow people to do their walking safely.
I am glad we have people in our city government like Mary and Doug that care about our city and work hard to get things done that serves all our community. Sorry for all the complaining.
Barbara Little
Payette
Debating health care reform
Editor,
In 1925, while I was still mastering the intricacies of infancy, it was not yet reasonable to calculate health care’s percentage contribution to the gross domestic product, but it was surely less than 5 percent. Gramma and grampa, mom and dad, and us kids almost never visited a doctor and went to the hospital only for such things as ruptured appendixes and massive injuries. Only the wealthy had a doctor.
Health care was primitive, but through the swift decades of the 20th century free enterprise, only modestly inhibited by government, transformed the practice of medicine into a highly effective, sometimes miraculous one. During the period of that transformation society redefined health care as a valuable commodity necessary to a happy life, while only recently have political practitioners endeavored to make it into a government benefit. During those decades of improvement the real benefit of health care has grown until its dollar cost is calculated to be 16 percent of gross domestic product, which is criticized by many as excessive.
Criticized, yet no one suggests that we go back to those less profligate days.
It ain’t the same world. Yet there is general and legitimate complaint over the cost of medical care with Congress ostensibly working hard to make health care at its best and most expensive available to everyone.
Congress is amok with the notion that only a bureaucratically managed health care system can provide an acceptable level of care to everyone within our borders.
But the fact is that our legislatures, federal and state, have been and still are directly responsible for most of the excessive cost and inefficiency of health care as it is available to us under existing law.
Insurance for instance, most if not all states do not permit out-of-state insurance companies to offer health policies in their domain. So, while we pride ourselves on the competitive nature of business in America, it just isn’t true of the insurance industry. I cite the example of my wife’s and my own experience here in Oregon right now in 2009 where her Medicare supplement costs $2,996.69 annually, while my own coverage, unavailable to her because she applied after Oregon slammed the door on out-of-states, is $1,935.87. That $1,055.82 annual disparity has bled our modest substance for many years now. Congress could overcome state selfishness by applying the interstate commerce provisions under section eight of the Constitution to the insurance industry. Competition would reduce the insurance increment of health care costs significantly.
Similarly, tort reform could address several problems. It will surprise no one to learn that the huge jury awards in medical suits benefit attorneys far more than the clients they profess to represent.
Divorcing health insurance from employment would be another great help to citizens in need of health insurance sold competitively. But congress insists that only employers receive tax privileges in establishing coverage providing insurers with breadth and depth of coverage. Such allegiances typically travel with members through life, unlike employees who are frequently laid off or who seek more appropriate employment while voluntary associations reinforce social stability in addition to being able to establish insurance pools along with other benefits to members.
Why hasn’t Congress raised a stabilizing hand over a burgeoning society with legislation that would not have disrupted free choice nor laid an unconscionable tax burden upon us and our grandchildren?
In recent years health care has become an anxiety swamp that drives talented people to other neighborhoods. Health care has become a beachball of contention providing Congress and its members an undeserved reputation for hard work on behalf of their constituents when in fact Congress, past and present, is the culprit whom we continue to reward at election time! We can also take it away.
Harry Neuwirth
Salem
Congress needs to revise the Child Nutrition Act
Editor,
A new report just might change what ends up on your child’s lunch tray. As a dietitian, I’m thrilled that the Institute of Medicine just issued an extensive report recommending that schools load lunch lines with a variety of fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains.
Right now, most lunch lines are full of processed meats and cheese products — and more than 80 percent of schools serve too much high- fat food to comply with federal guidelines. But this new report could really turn the tables in cafeterias.
It recommends cutting down processed meats, and it joins the American Public Health Association and the American Medical Association in calling for vegetarian school meal options. We need to ask Congress to revise the Child Nutrition Act to help all schools make these healthy changes in their cafeterias. Sign the petition today at www.HealthySchoolLunches.org.
Kathryn Strong, M.S., R.D.
Staff Dietitian
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Washington D.C.
