POLITICS
Gingrey deserves credit for bipartisanship effort
While there are good points to the GOP’s new “Pledge to America,” it steers clear of specifics, such as bringing people out of poverty through education and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, there is no mention of overhauling Social Security or Medicare — two programs on the verge of bankruptcy, and crippling any chance of long-term economic recovery.
Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta deserves credit for trying to include a pledge of bipartisanship to the American people, proposed after hearing from constituents that they are fed up by the bickering among our leaders.
Brian DiNapoli, Decatur
HEALTH CARE
The more we spend on poverty, the more we get
Regarding “Health care’s link to poverty” (Opinion, Sept. 28): Medicare, and especially Medicaid spending have escalated explosively. Government spending generally has increased far beyond the dreams of “Great Society” advocates.
George W. Bush pushed through a huge expansion of Medicare benefits. Barack Obama just shoved through a trillion-dollar expansion in government health care, in the face of wide public opposition. Medicare and Medicaid have incurred tens of trillions in unfunded obligations.
Yet, we are told a “high rate of descent into poverty” requires yet more increases in government spending and control of health care. Recent history indicates that the more the U.S. government spends on poverty, the more poverty we get. If we continue on this road, we will all find ourselves descending into poverty.
Richard E. Ralston, executive director, Americans for Free Choice in Medicine
HEALTH CARE
Your congressman may be playing games
As a senior citizen, I feel I might know a little something about health care, and benefits.
The most important thing you can have is good health. Without it you cannot work, enjoy your partner or family, nor all of the money in the world (if you had it). If your congressman tells you don’t need health insurance, ask them if they have government-sanctioned health insurance. They do. The president and the Democrats voted for you to have it, knowing that when you are sick, you can’t work.
Richard Beck, Marietta
PARKING
Atlanta, enjoy the $25 — it won’t come again soon
This is an open letter to the Atlanta City Council (or whichever city board is responsible for the new parking laws in Atlanta). I would like to congratulate you on the wonderful effort to drive visitors away from the city. Why would anyone outside Atlanta expect clearly stated and clearly marked parking regulations? It’s much easier to make them confusing, open to interpretation, and impossible to follow, and then sit back and watch the fines come flowing in. I know better than to waste my time attempting to fight a bureaucracy. So I would like to invite the responsible parties to please enjoy the $25 ticket I just paid. Enjoy it because it will be the last $25 I spend in the city of Atlanta for a very long time.
Sam Snow, Kennesaw
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