JEKYLL ISLAND

Authority disregarded

years of public input

Regarding “Hotels or otherwise, upgrades are needed” (Readers write, Opinion, Sept. 25), “helping” the Jekyll Island Authority, as this letter to the editor suggests, is not unlike midwifing a wildebeest: It sounds humane and reasonable in theory, but is not so readily done in practice.

Public input to JIA appointees and staff members, who are supposed to serve the public interest, has been either gratuitously patronized, deflected, ignored, deceptively circumvented, or rejected. At least, that’s what I’ve observed during my years of involvement with the Jekyll issue.

Evidently, the author of this letter hasn’t tried working with the JIA or even been reading much news about the JIA’s controversial “revitalization” effort over the past five years.

JANE FRASER, SEA ISLAND

HEALTH CARE

Obamacare advocates

shouldn’t be surprised

When Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and President Obama crammed Obamacare down our throats, they were rude to anyone who did not embrace the legislation — though it was done very quickly, and few had read or even understood it and the many “unintended consequences” inside.

Now that the Democrats need to work with Republicans to get any normal business done, they don’t understand why the Republicans refuse to negotiate with them. Big surprise, folks. They angered many, and now seem so surprised that the Republicans won’t “play nice.” What goes around, comes around.

R. HOYE, ATLANTA

Refuse? You should

pay the consequences

Regarding “‘This mandated coverage is crazy’” (News, Sept. 23), it baffles me that a registered nurse can be so thoughtless and short on good arguments.

Let’s assume a vast majority feels just like this reader, and decides to choose a lower-end insurance package or no insurance altogether. There is no way that these people, collectively, will be able to pay for their care — not just for cuts and bruises, but for cancers, serious injuries, joint replacements, diabetes, heart attacks, seizure disorders, etc. The taxpayers must be, like it or not, called upon to cover them.

When bills of tens of thousands of dollars arrive, they should not ask the country to pay for them. Stupidity must meet its consequences.

I, too, am not in favor of Obamacare, but for a very different reason. Having come from a country with universal coverage since the 19th century and a significantly better health outcome than the U.S. can show using most health parameters, there is only one choice that makes sense to me: single payer.

DR. GUNTHER RUCKL, DECATUR