LEGAL SYSTEM
Tucker is right: Too long a list of sex offenders
I am grateful that Cynthia Tucker attempts to keep our focus on the real issues involved in sex crimes (“Not every sex crime predatory,” Opinion, Sept. 6). I agree with her that not every sex crime is predatory, and that we place too many people on sexual offender registries around the country. I appreciate her lifting up once again the case of Genarlow Wilson. I followed that case a few years ago, and celebrated when justice was done. To my knowledge, the laws have not changed. To be sure, some offenders need to be monitored and placed on registries for the rest of their lives. It seems to me that we need to exercise better judgment in making those decisions. Our legislators have opportunities to correct defects in the laws. Tolly Williamson, Decatur
POLITICS
Krauthammer chooses to fuel the culture wars
In “A mere mortal after all, Obama plunges down to the real world” (Opinion, Sept. 4), Charles Krauthammer abandons substantive debate on health care reform in favor of fueling the culture wars, and pushes a self-fulfilling prophecy he incomprehensibly views as desirable. He doesn’t miss a chance to marshal every loaded metaphor and stereotype. Why the fear of progress? Who stands to benefit?
Jan Rice, Atlanta
GOVERNMENT
Atlanta’s many problems seem horribly familiar
Does anyone else feel that Atlanta is on a slippery slope to possibly becoming our next Detroit? Corruption, lack of leadership, job loss, shrinking economic base and deteriorating infrastructure — the signs are there for those who want to see.
Rather than continued in-fighting within the city, why not cooperative programs that put the city first — or is this just too much to ask for? Linn Matthews, Atlanta
HEALTH CARE
Doctor’s answer prompts a few questions
In response to Dr. M. Todd Williamson’s “no” answer to a public option (“Pro and Con: Public option?” News, Sept. 6): You say you are against the proposed public care option because it would have patients relinquish the freedom to choose a doctor to “cost-savings-driven bureaucrats.” Do you think insurance companies are not driven by cost savings?
You say that Medicare has become the “only health insurance option for seniors.” I am a senior, and I do have insurance options. I can go to the private insurance sector and choose Medigap insurance from a number of suppliers to give me more extensive coverage. Jane Terry, Decatur
HEALTH CARE
A thousand pages? A thousand times, no!
Someone please explain to me how a bill of over 1,000 pages, that no one has really read, studied or understands the cause and effect of, is going to be the penicillin shot for health care. The current problem is partially the result of government interference. Now look at all the government-run programs, and how successful they are. Yes, health care needs to be adjusted, but 1,000-plus pages is not the answer. One thousand-plus pages: penicillin, or a laxative? A little common sense, please.
Cosby Smith, Elberton