Irresponsibility would doom Medicare for all
Seventy percent of Americans are overweight, and the Democrats want Medicare for all? On top of that we have the puffers, snorters, mainliners, 24/7 mega-munchers, stoners, the "I hate condoms" crowd, hubby- and wife-beaters, stabbers, shooters, boozers, the "I hate seat belts" crowd, the "I don't want to wear a crash helmet because I want ladies to see my hair blowing in the wind on my Harley" crowd, the those who buy a StairMaster and just stare at it crowd, and the JFK Jr. crowd (he wanted to rappel off Mt. Rushmore) that live for the dare doing really stupid stuff. Can we say "belly up in a week"? MIKE RILES, STONE MOUNTAIN
Congress should share pain of shutdown too
Two insights have emerged from the government shutdown. First, it is a major injustice that Congress continues to get paid when some of its government employee constituents aren’t. Current economic reality is that many people live paycheck to paycheck. Discomfort should be broadly shared. Senate and House members, their staffs, and cabinet secretaries whose departments are shut down should not be paid under these conditions. They should feel the pain, too. A second insight is that the president has turned the Constitution’s premise of “advise and consent” on its head. The only congressional advice to which the president consents is that which matches his ideas. Sadly, many of his positions are informed by demonstrated inaccuracies and fear. How ironic that the most appropriate epitaph for this situation is provided by rock singer Ozzy Osbourne: “[We’re] going off the rails on a crazy train.”
RICH LAPIN, DUNWOODY
Romney right to remind of duty to country
Georgia Sen. David Perdue’s scolding response to fellow Sen. Mitt Romney’s Op-Ed shows he misunderstands why so many oppose Trump. We don’t oppose him because we reject conservatism. We oppose him because we want to preserve conservatism. Perdue’s singular focus seems to be smaller government and less taxes. But conservatism is bigger than that. It means respect for traditions, for precedent, for tried and true institutions, for longstanding alliances, and for the rule of law. As Romney explained, Trump debases these ideals routinely and thereby weakens our nation. All of us, from folks Perdue demeans as the “radical liberal left” to upstanding conservatives, want Republicans in Congress to rise up and defend our institutions and our national values against constant assault by an incoherent and immoral White House. And if it takes a thousand Romney columns to remind Perdue of his duty to our country, then so be it.
CHRIS CENTNER, RESTON, VA.
History shows walls are ineffective waste of money
I have two words for Donald Trump and his supporters: “Maginot Line.” In the period between World Wars I and II, France had a brilliant idea to deter another German invasion. They built a wall along the border with Germany filled with fortifications, and staffed with troops who stood ready for the Germans. At the start of World War II, the Germans did, in fact invade and conquer France, but by marching through and conquering Belgium and the Netherlands first. As most illegal immigrants are people who overstayed their visas, they entered through legal checkpoints. Most drugs come through checkpoints. There is no wall that can’t be tunneled under or crawled over. Trump’s wall is a beyond stupid waste of taxpayer money. And no matter how solid the construction, the foundation would be Trump’s lies, and it simply will not stand.
MIKE CANFIELD, ATLANTA
