AJC.com > Opinion > Opinion Talk > Archives > 2008 > June > 23
Monday, June 23, 2008
Health museum or health insurance?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Joan Yoon writes that if we are willing to shell out $250 million for a health museum in downtown Atlanta, we should also be willing to invest more in the health of Georgia citizens. “I have no doubt that the national health museum can teach Georgia residents and visitors alike about the importance of healthy living,” she writes. “At the same time, though, I think it only right to consider investment in the new national health museum in Georgia in the same vein as investment in the health of Georgians. “I’m worried about the health of our state. Beyond our failure to protect consumers in the health insurance market, I’m concerned about our state’s uninsured and underinsured. More specifically, I’m concerned about the more than 300,000 children in Georgia who lack health insurance coverage, the rising number of babies born at a low birthweight, the alarming growth in the number of obese children and adults, and our collective failure to identify and properly treat adolescents with mental health issues.”
In building the new health museum, do we have our priorities straight?
Permalink | Comments (20) | Categories: Forum
Mayors brace for D.C. gun ruling
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to soon issue a ruling in the Washington, D.C. gun case and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin worries that cities may be hampered in their crime-fighting efforts if the justices strike down the D.C. gun control laws.
“If the justices agree with the lower court’s ruling, cities and states throughout the country may face challenge after challenge to the constitutionality of firearm regulations enacted to protect the public and prosecute criminals. And city attorneys may find themselves spending as much time fighting lawsuits as they do fighting crime,” writes Franklin, in an opinion column signed by several other mayors. “Those resource-draining challenges would come at an inconvenient time. Gun violence is a national crisis, but one that disproportionately affects those of us who live in urban areas. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 340,000 homicides were committed in large American cities between 1976 and 2005. About 64 percent of those homicides involved firearms.”
She adds, ” A decision from on high that limited our authority to craft local solutions would be yet another tragedy.”
What will the impact be of the court’s ruling?
Permalink | Comments (71) | Categories: Forum
Services »
