HEALTH CARE
State failed Grady, so a special tax is needed
As an Atlanta home owner and Fulton County resident, I believe it is time for the Fulton and DeKalb county commissioners to take seriously a specially designated tax for Grady Memorial Hospital.
This tax should be assessed annually, and it should go to cover the general operating expenses of the hospital and to repay bond obligations associated with the hospital. A permanent solution for funding for Grady has to be addressed. The Fulton County Board of Commissioners simply needs to pass the tax and then let the state sue them, if the state feels the tax is illegal.
The state of Georgia, and Gov. Deal, have failed Grady Hospital by not accepting the federal Medicaid expansion, and by not line-item budgeting money for Grady. While indigent health care is a county responsibility, it is not fair to home owners in DeKalb and Fulton counties to have to pay for indigent care for out-of-county residents.
GARY S. COX, ATLANTA
LIVING WAGE
More government isn’t solution for low wages
I just finished reading a recent minimum-wage push column from Paul Krugman (“Support exists, so let’s raise floor on worker pay,” Opinion, Dec. 7).
Does this guy ever talk about personal responsibility? It is amazing to me that he continues to push government support as the answer for every action that needs to be taken when dealing with people who are less fortunate than the top one-third of the population.
I have no issue with food stamps, WIC or unemployment insurance — but I do take issue when the programs seem to run on forever, and no one takes the responsibility for saying, “Stop.” I personally know people who refused to even look for a job — minimum-wage jobs included — until the unemployment check stopped coming. As long as the check keeps coming, people will sit on the sidelines.
RICK ROTH, ALPHARETTA
RELIGION
Sell off church assets before judging others
Pope Francis apparently has a dim view of free-market economies — especially the amassing of wealth. There are numerous biblical quotes to support his position. There is also a quote that says to judge not, that you be not judged.
The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church, which is probably the wealthiest single institution on earth. The pope comes from Latin America, where the church is highly influential, but poverty abounds there — and there is a huge separation between the wealthy and the poor.
I would have been more impressed with the pope’s position had he liquidated some of the church’s assets and used the proceeds for education or job training of the poor, and perhaps a church-approved birth control method. Both of these would assist the less fortunate in improving their own, and their children’s, lives.
DONALD MILLER, PEACHTREE CITY
