Handouts destroying American system

AJC has one view only, government is the answer — big government (“No time to think small,” Editorial, Aug. 2). While you are insisting that the government needs to provide medical insurance as a human necessity, why not add clothing, food, water, shelter. Take any one of these things away, then your outlook for survival is at risk. The AJC ignores that a free market has lifted more people out of poverty than any other economic/political model. Since government has become the baby bottle to so many, has the percentage of poor declined or illegitimate births declined? No. Progressive-ism will bankrupt this exceptional country.

BRIAN WALKER, ACWORTH

Improve controls when expanding Medicaid

Andre Jackson thinks Georgia should act broadly and aggressively in ways to reduce the number of uninsured residents. I agree with that sentiment. And I know that Mr. Jackson knows that expanding Medicaid is going to cost a lot of money. I don’t mind helping pay the bill, but I do mind paying for the medical expense that comes about by careless lifestyles resulting in self-inflicted sicknesses such as obesity and the use of drugs. Mine is not a a popular opinion, but if we don’t do something about the countless children being born into poverty or worse, our medical professionals and medical facilities will be pushed beyond their endurance level. And the costs to responsible Georgia residents will soar to a point of near-revolt. There has to be a better system of determining who is eligible for assistance and who is taking advantage of a generous program designed to help citizens affected by circumstances beyond their control.

JACK FRANKLIN, CONYERS

Sunday alcohol sales’ confounding restrictions

Why are alcohol sales prohibited before 12:30 p.m. on Sundays? On the 2nd-busiest sales day of the week why are these sales restricted. It can’t possibly be the exercising of what is commonly referred to as police powers to protect the public’s health, safety and morals. Why are certain hours of the day selected? Are they selected by puritanical busybodies clinging to Prohibition or colonial American-era blue laws? It’s appalling that some people constantly focus on the negative, using the state to tell others how they should live. To me the problem is clear, for whatever reason, these prohibitionists have never accepted or been introduced to the philosophy of freedom. In a free society, businesses make their own decisions as to the days and times they will make available their products for sale. In a free society you can’t have it any other way. By the way, no alcohol was consumed on Sunday during the writing of this letter.

RONALD GREEN, NEWNAN

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Michelle Obama visited Booker T. Washington High School as part of her “Reach Higher” campaign to increase the number of college graduates. The public high school in Atlanta has more than three times the students living in poverty and hundreds of open seats, writes guest contributor Raymond Pierce. (Bob Andres/AJC 2014)

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Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

Credit: Family photo