VOICE OF THE PEOPLE | NOV. 26, 2009

Passing health bill will take force

To make it happen for the benefit of the people, progressives (aka, Democrats) will have to ram a new health care bill down the throats of the primitives (aka, Republicans) as happened with Social Security in 1935 and Medicare in 1965. The American people more than deserve the benefit, and Republicans more than deserve the sore throat.

Jerry Walden

Rock Hill

Nation doesn't need extreme reform bill

Do we need health care reform? Yes, I think most Americans would agree. Do we need health care reform as proposed by the liberals in Congress? No.

Some like to inflate numbers of those are without health care and make statements without any real analysis. Are 40 million to 50 million Americans really without health care because they can't afford it or have been denied? How many of those are illegal immigrants? How many of those can afford health care but choose not to purchase or sign up? How many of those are currently incarcerated in our prisons and are receiving health care within the system?

When one weeds out those who fall into those categories, the numbers of American citizens who can't get coverage of any kind is much smaller. Should Congress pass such extreme bills as those floating around Washington for such a small percentage of Americans? The answer is clearly no!

From the words of a great leader: “Are you willing to spend time studying the issues, making yourself aware, and then conveying that information to family and friends? Will you resist the temptation to get a government handout for your community? Realize that the doctor's fight against socialized medicine is your fight. We can't socialize the doctors without socializing the patients. Recognize that government invasion of public power is eventually an assault upon your own business. If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile, hoping he'll eat you last.” — Ronald Reagan (Oct. 27, 1964)

Are you listening, Congressman Spratt? Vote no for Obama care or you may find yourself in a bit of a pickle at the polls.

Katrina Smith

Rock Hill

Why let Muslims recruitat Capitol?

Can anybody out there understand letting 50,000 Muslims hold prayer on our Capitol lawn, prayer to a god who teaches them to kill all of us? This is what Hussein Obama has, apparently, promised them in a speech in Egypt or some place over there in Muslim country. This, remember, is happening before one of them, who yelled praise allah and started killing all of us infidels he could, is even tried for his terrorist attack.

Are we Americans to help the Muslims increase their numbers? They brag that they will “echo their prayers off the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol building itself.” We have politically corrected ourselves right to the edge of oblivion. People, Hussein Obama has not gotten the freedom of speech out of our Constitution yet. You had better hurry up, stand up and use it.

Richard Usher

Rock Hill

True reform? Get government out

The health care and insurance professions are already riddled by government regulations. That's why costs and inefficiencies are artificially high. The paperwork alone is overwhelming. Most of the forms you fill out are government-mandated and have nothing to do with your health.

Government-enforced malpractice insurance forces doctors to pay exorbitant fees, raising fees doctors must charge patients. Government-enforced restrictions against free-market interstate competition of insurance companies allow insurance rates to stay artificially high. Government restrictions and regulations for how many hospitals service an area reduces the availability of facilities and creates unnecessary delays in being treated. And people go to the doctor “for every little thing” because the government will pay for it.

When you are a senior, the government takes away your choice of insurance by requiring Medicare to be your primary insurance. If you doctor doesn't take Medicare patients, you are forbidden by the government to pay your own bill. If you do, the government will take away your doctor's license or practice. And government Medicare arbitrarily dictates doctor pay for treating seniors — threatening senior care by not paying nearly what doctors need to cover their expenses so doctors can't afford to treat them.

Getting government out of health care would result in much more affordable responsive and effective care. There would be plentiful facilities, more good people would become doctors, and insurance companies would have more competitive packages and prices — if they could focus on their true professions rather than jumping through all the hoops and entanglements of government regulations. More government interference in the form of a “public option” would transform health care from a private, mutually beneficial service into a political tool for controlling every aspect of our lives. If ever there was a time to let your representatives know where you stand, it is now.

Terry Taylor

McConnells