Letters to the Editor
Many of those who oppose health care reform champion the view that a free market economy is the answer not only to our health care crisis, but to virtually every problem facing our nation.
They choose to ignore the fact that it was this same free market system that created the medical care crisis that we are now experiencing.
They also conveniently forget that our current economic crisis was largely the result of lax government regulation and the dangerous excesses that unregulated markets naturally create.
The primary value of this group of people is: every man for himself.
In counterpoint to this view stand those who support health care reform and recognize an essential and legitimate role for government in meeting the needs of our country and in curbing the excesses of unbridled capitalism.
They understand the reality of our social and economic interdependence and reject the view that any individual can stand alone.
They realize that with our current health care system, even those in the middle class, with good jobs and good health insurance, are one pink slip or one serious illness away from medically based bankruptcy.
The underlying value of this group of people is: we are all in this together.
When these two contrasting value systems are applied to our country, the choice may be reframed as a question: What kind of a country do we want for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren?
It is critical that we choose wisely, and get the values as well as the politics right, for our decisions today will shape the future for generations to come.
Richard Winchell
Aurora
Was that writer otherwise occupied on Nov. 4, 2008, when millions of Americans elected their representatives?
Ironically for the writer, any lack of representation on this issue lies with neither house of Congress being sufficiently committed to a robust public option. The Senate in particular is ignoring the will of the people on this essential component of health care reform.
The writer ridicules Rep. Bill Foster's use of conference call town hall meetings to support the writer's assertion that Congress is ignoring "we the people." The congressman's approach actually resulted in his involving thousands more of his constituents in the process than would have been the case with a traditional town hall meeting.
Rep. Foster's prudent decision allowed for valuable information to be conveyed in both directions. These calls provided a constructive departure from those more traditional town hall meetings that were hijacked by a disruptive minority clearly more interested in something other than a rational discussion of the issue.
By employing whatever means necessary to derail the momentum of the health care reform movement, opponents like the writer damage the opposition's credibility such that the more reasonable voices among them will be lost in the noise.
Terry Bermes
Montgomery
