Unfettered Letters

Health-care reform

Barbara Shelly’s column “Too long delayed, health reform simply can’t wait” (3/6, Opinion) brought my simmer to a boil. A family loses a mom to catastrophic illness and, on top of that, loses their home because the insurance stopped when the mom was so sick she could no longer keep the job that provided access to health insurance?

It is unfathomable that we can bail out mortgages of people who borrowed too much to get a house bigger than they needed or could afford, and pay executives millions of dollars for making stupid or illegal decisions that have resulted in this huge economic mess, but we punish decent people trying to do the right thing who have the great misfortune of getting sick and dying.

Short of overhauling the whole health-care system (which desperately needs to be done), we could fast-track people into the Medicare/disability system when they can’t keep working because they are fighting for their lives.

Oops, guess we can’t afford that!

Susan Wyssmann
Kansas City

It was immediately after World War II that amid the bombed-out buildings and weak economy, the British adopted their nation’s health-care system.

In England (and other industrialized countries) productive citizens don’t have to worry about medical bankruptcy.

Rae Ann Nixon
Kansas City

Support health-care reform bill

There is a little-known bill in Congress that I encourage you to support: House Resolution (H.R.) 676. The goal of this bill is to expand Medicare coverage for all in the United States. I am proud that Congressman Emanuel Cleaver supports this bill.

This is not socialized medicine. Socialized medicine means that the government owns the health-care industry. This bill would simply allow federal government to be the only single payer for health care. You would still get to choose your own doctors and hospitals. They will be private institutions. Contrary to popular opinion, this would create less bureaucracy and be less expensive than our current system.

This bill is pro-business. Imagine the small businesses that would thrive without having to provide health insurance for employees.

I encourage you to study this for yourself.

Brian Morse
Independence

Ideas for reforming election process

Now that the election is over and we have a new president, I would like to propose some changes to the voting procedures.

First, just before any presidential election there are many letters decrying the Electoral College. If the citizens really want to do away with this entity, whereby a candidate with the most votes can still lose to a candidate with fewer, then now is the time to start reviewing the Electoral College and get rid of it.

Second, on all ballots the incumbent should be indicated in such a way so that the voters know for sure just whom they are voting for.

Third, because there are many times when we don’t like any of the candidates, I propose to enter a space for “none of the above.”

If you agree, contact your representative (even if he’s your “none of the above”) and try to get him to represent you and not his own interests or those of his wealthiest contributors.

Ken Montgomery
Kansas City

Reining in high medical costs

Froma Harrop (12/1, Opinion, “Time to seize the day on health-care reform”) wrote that among other things the cost of “defensive medicine” — X-rays, lab tests and consultations that are medically unnecessary but legally necessary for protection in malpractice litigation — is high.

Truly, no one really knows these costs. But until the need for such extra work is dealt with, comprehensive health care is fiscally unobtainable.

Stanley Goldman
Fairway

Politicians must scale back

The voters were bought in this presidential election. Does anyone care? Yes, we made history, but are we ready for the future that awaits us? It may not be the “change” that is good for this country.

I cannot tolerate the extravaganza spending on campaigning and now the presidential inauguration celebration. It is heartbreaking to me that people are losing their jobs, homes and savings while Congress is debating whether to bail out the Big Three. No more bailouts!

Barack Obama says he is for the poor. So please, president-elect set the example to show compassion and scale down your inauguration celebration.

Where were the other politicians, media talk shows and financial advisers to inspire a solution that both candidates should have stopped all campaigning and put those funds into the market to help with the financial crash? No one said a word. It was taxpayers’ money, wasn’t it?

It’s time for congressional term limits and a cap on campaign spending.

Patricia Baker
St. Joseph

Contract office improvements

Missourians needing vehicle tags, titles and licenses go to one of the state’s contract offices. It is not something most look forward to, which is why we prioritized improving customer service and efficiency.

One contract agent who answered my call for reform is Tracy Graves at the Gladstone office. Unfortunately, Mrs. Graves’ name has appeared in this paper because of a fight in Washington that had nothing to do with her. Your readers should know Mrs. Graves is a capable woman who has run a good office and improved services for customers.

Additionally, I appreciate The Star’s acknowledging some of the positive changes my administration made to the contract office system. We were the first to open contract offices to competitive bids. So far we have opened nine offices to this transparent process, and six contracts have been awarded.

The Star is correct that continued reform is needed. We have created the template and hope the next governor follows our lead.

We closed state-run offices, because state law changes shifted the operating costs to taxpayers. Using the private sector saves more than $7 million dollars annually. By changing the old way, these offices are more efficient and accountable to taxpayers.

Gov. Matt Blunt
Jefferson City

Time for campaign reform

We need campaign reform.

There should be a time limit. It is insane to start the next campaign the very next day after an election. Our elected officials should spend their time in Washington to do the job they were elected to and get paid for by the taxpayers. It would be easier to judge them by their accomplishments while in office.

A shorter campaign time would also save an enormous amount of money that could be used for many different needs. It would also save the candidates’ energy, which could be used for working on the job.

A shorter campaign time would also help the public stay interested in the subjects at hand and increase voter participation.

As a naturalized citizen, I value my right to vote. It is a privilege I treasure.

Ruth H. Iliff
Overland Park

Immigration reform

The Border Patrol has found some 4,200 dead bodies in the U.S. desert since 1995 as migrants seek entry to support their families, according to the relief group “No More Deaths” of Tucson, Ariz.

NAFTA cancels tariffs on U.S. goods, allowing cheaper U.S. produce to flood Mexican markets, driving Mexican farmers off their land and to the U.S. to seek income for their families.

On April 28, 40 protesters, mostly Catholic Workers, gave witness at the Kansas City Federal Building. I was one of six arrested for “blocking entrances and walkways.”

We demand immigration reform. We reject the criminalization of humanitarian aid to immigrants. We object to raids, deportation and family separation. Europe has a guest worker program. Why don’t we?

To paraphrase Reagan’s challenge to Gorbachev, we say, “Mr. Bush, tear down that border wall.”

How we treat immigrants strikes to the core of our values and souls.

Henry M. Stoever
Overland Park

Social Security reform

Since The Star raised the issue again in its recent editorial (3/28, Opinion, “Social Security, Medicare need fundamental reform”), let’s review the situation.

Bush did try to make Social Security reform a key legislative initiative, but the Democrats would not negotiate unless funding of individual accounts by workers was off the table, calling it “privatization.”

The real issue, however, is that diverting some funds to individual accounts would decrease the cash flow to fund the promises made to the retired generation. Young people backing Barack Obama should get him on the dime on this issue.

It’s simple. The only way to fund entitlements is to tax younger workers. It’s like a Ponzi scheme. Raising the income level on which taxes are paid, while alleviating the cash flow problem now, only postpones it to a later time when it may be even more acute.

Medicare is more problematic. If young people remain apathetic or do not hold their standard-bearers to some promises, they will pay the price, as politicians will pander to the largest voting bloc.

I do not see any evidence that either party plans to address this issue, although John McCain has shown a tendency to reach across the aisle on big issues.

Stephen Kunz
Overland Park

Open letter to Social Security and the future president: I wish to withdraw from the Social Security system. You may keep everything I have contributed to Social Security for the last 20 years (since the age of 15).

Even though it’s my money, I will not complain about how it’s spent or to what unrelated government program “borrows” it. I would instead prefer to invest my money into a profitable, reliable retirement system of my choosing that will actually be available to me when I retire.

If you grant me this personal financial freedom — which should already be granted to every American — to do with my money set aside for my retirement what I wish, then I promise not to petition, litigate or count on the U.S. government in any way shape or form for any type of return or assistance in the future for any reason.

C. Green
Overland Park

Faith and violence

In the Rev. Drew A. Newman’s letter (8/28) on the Reformation and Christianity, he states that Christianity does not teach violence as an acceptable means of furthering the growth of the church, but that the same can’t be said of Islam.

The reverend show how little he knows about true Islam.

True Islam does not advocate violence. This, however, falls on deaf ears too many times.

If you wish to believe that true Islam advocates violence to further the religion, then by the same measure, the same can be said about the Christian Church. I point to the Crusades, the Inquisition and the forcible conversion of the Native Americans as a few examples of the Christian Church using violence to further its growth.

Please stop painting all of Islam with the same brushstrokes as those of the extremists. Christians don’t like it and neither do Muslims.

Shelly Brown
Liberty

It sounds like the Rev. Drew Newman, pastor of a Lutheran church in Kearney, has spent more time studying theology than the historical context of his own denomination.

Early Lutherans, as well as several other Protestant denominations, persecuted those who disagreed with them, convinced that they were the only recipients of divine revelation.

Newman was criticizing a recent column by Diana Muir in which she asserted that the conviction that one’s religion has the word direct from God can empower individuals to kill in his name. This is well illustrated by more than 100 years of religious wars in Europe following the Reformation, and it is the reason that our Founding Fathers were determined to separate religion and the state.

Jeanette B. Welch
Warrensburg