Some questions about transportation
Everyone agrees that something needs to be done about traffic and transportation issues in the Atlanta area.
My concerns include the following:
How much money is going to be spent doing studies? It seems as if millions are spent doing studies that produce nothing that everyone didn’t know already.
How many projects are actually completed at or below cost? It always seems there are unknowns that appear, and the cost goes up.
What will prevent the government from spending the money on other projects that are not on the current list, or on projects that are not transportation-related?
What will happen in 10 years when some of the projects are partially finished and the money runs out?
These questions need real answers.
JAMES R. TAYLOR, ADAIRSVILLE
GOP is misleading on health insurance
As I read the coverage concerning health care in the AJC, I have two questions that are never addressed by the opponents of the constitutionally approved Affordable Health Care Act.
What do conservatives have against less fortunate residents who want health insurance, but cannot afford it or are denied coverage? And why does the idea of personal responsibility not apply to those people who refuse to buy health insurance and then become a financial burden on the rest of us when they need expensive care?
It is sad that Republicans are willing to intentionally mislead people about the effects of this legislation instead of accepting the verdict of the Supreme Court and working with the president to effectively implement it.
It seems to me that they are only interested in scaring enough people to defeat President Barack Obama.
MIKE HAREMSKI, TUCKER
A giant leap toward government control
The letter “Decision good for some, bad for nation” (Readers write, Opinion, July 3) is right on.
Whether it’s called socialism or something else, Obamacare is a giant leap toward total government control. What one is entitled to, someone else is compelled to provide.
By ruling that a tax levied to compel is constitutional, the Supreme Court has given Congress unlimited power to enslave.
JOHN STANFIELD, PEACHTREE CITY
Greed is draining the tax pool dry
Chief Justice John Roberts has enraged Republicans by defining President Barack Obama’s health care plan as a tax — but as nothing causes more protest than the imposition of taxes, he must be correct.
Taxation is the way we pool our resources on behalf of our common welfare, but that deadly sin of greed is draining that pool dry.
So much of our tax money has supported subsidies for wealthy corporations that it is sad to see the “haves” in our country spending big money to keep the “have-nots” from benefiting from anything at all — including a health plan that might prevent bankruptcies caused by medical needs and that could also save lives.
MARGARET CURTIS, ATLANTA
