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Kansas City, MO —
To the editor:
It was encouraging to see the two Examiner articles on the subject of undocumented political rants, both within the last two weeks. Michael Hahn (letters, Wednesday, “Argue from an informed stance, please”) suggests writers might find credible original source information to cite before using bare negative insults. We live in a high-tech age of information sharing. We have available, as the issue requires, House bills, Senate bills, joint resolutions, opinions of objective professionals in matters of economics, science, international warfare and diplomacy, etc., etc. Michael closes with an excellent original source of his own; a citation from Scripture, calculated to discourage insults and name-calling.
In an earlier column, James Everett has provoked us to think beyond self-serving political ads (June 15, “Don’t ignore benefits of Affordable Care Act”). I would add that many presidents, starting with Theodore Roosevelt, have attempted to remedy America’s health care deficiencies. They all failed for the same reason we see today, political partisanship. We can’t deny statistics that rate our health care at about 37th in the world, based upon factors such as infant mortality, life expectancy and cost per capita for health care.
The profit motive is effective in many aspects of our economy. We buy what we can afford of many goods and services offered, from the ordinary to the luxurious, without affecting our quality of life. However, when it comes to public education, public roads, police and fire protection, etc., we have not hesitated to join the rest of the civilized world in government involvement for the good of all citizens.
Our health care is such a human need which we have in common, and belongs in this category. The Affordable Care legislation unfolds over a four-year time period. We are already seeing the elimination of the “pre-existing conditions” exclusion, continued coverage of dependent children, exclusion if one gets sick too often, and much more. Opposition to the Affordable Care Act seems to be financed by those who have prospered greatly from the status quo and those who find it easier to accept their political slant, rather than read original source data. We can do better.
It’s more than a moral issue. Our nation’s economy depends upon healthy, working citizens. It would be a shameful if this long-delayed legislation collapses due to financial motivation of powerful special interests.
To the editor:
It was encouraging to see the two Examiner articles on the subject of undocumented political rants, both within the last two weeks. Michael Hahn (letters, Wednesday, “Argue from an informed stance, please”) suggests writers might find credible original source information to cite before using bare negative insults. We live in a high-tech age of information sharing. We have available, as the issue requires, House bills, Senate bills, joint resolutions, opinions of objective professionals in matters of economics, science, international warfare and diplomacy, etc., etc. Michael closes with an excellent original source of his own; a citation from Scripture, calculated to discourage insults and name-calling.
In an earlier column, James Everett has provoked us to think beyond self-serving political ads (June 15, “Don’t ignore benefits of Affordable Care Act”). I would add that many presidents, starting with Theodore Roosevelt, have attempted to remedy America’s health care deficiencies. They all failed for the same reason we see today, political partisanship. We can’t deny statistics that rate our health care at about 37th in the world, based upon factors such as infant mortality, life expectancy and cost per capita for health care.
The profit motive is effective in many aspects of our economy. We buy what we can afford of many goods and services offered, from the ordinary to the luxurious, without affecting our quality of life. However, when it comes to public education, public roads, police and fire protection, etc., we have not hesitated to join the rest of the civilized world in government involvement for the good of all citizens.
Our health care is such a human need which we have in common, and belongs in this category. The Affordable Care legislation unfolds over a four-year time period. We are already seeing the elimination of the “pre-existing conditions” exclusion, continued coverage of dependent children, exclusion if one gets sick too often, and much more. Opposition to the Affordable Care Act seems to be financed by those who have prospered greatly from the status quo and those who find it easier to accept their political slant, rather than read original source data. We can do better.
It’s more than a moral issue. Our nation’s economy depends upon healthy, working citizens. It would be a shameful if this long-delayed legislation collapses due to financial motivation of powerful special interests.
