Dec. 1 Letters to the Editor

A poor track record

In a recent e-mail from Sen. Maria Cantwell, she includes a statement saying Medicare wastes 30 percent of all Medicare spending.

I just don’t understand how anyone can assume the federal government will manage the 2,000-page health care program any better than they manage Medicare. As I understand it, much of the money to pay for the new health care program will come from Medicare savings. This, I assume, means better management of the Medicare program.

With almost 50 years experience in managing Medicare, the federal government’s track record is 30 percent waste. Where do we go from here?

Bill Hallanger

Longview

Moving too fast?

Are you kidding me? Eighteen thousand people a year die for lack of health insurance and we’re moving too fast on health care reform? And that proportion of people have been dying since ‘72, when Ted Kennedy wrote “In Critical Condition: The Crisis in America’s Health Care.” That’s about a half million dead for nothing. Chappaquiddick is relevant how?

But I’m pretty sure 18,000 a year is an acceptable number for the Republicans, Fox News, Brian Baird and the 10 people who have responded to my letters in the last month. Caskets are like Doritos, “Die all you want, we’ll make more.”

Can we bury the 18,000 in your yard? You should be able to buy a backhoe and some concrete vaults with all the money you’re saving with the less expensive health care system we have today. You know, at least do something constructive other than complain.

Matt McClung

Kelso

Good for a laugh

Thanks to Dennis R. Woodard (Nov. 27 letter) for the laughs. First, Woodard complains about Dick Cheney not serving in the military but doesn’t mention Bill Clinton? Why leave out Clinton, who received deferments from doing his military service? Maybe because he is a Democrat?

Woodard should try a novel concept and watch Fox News before commenting on them. They have news programs up to the 5 p.m. EST prime-time slots. Rush Limbaugh isn’t on Fox’s lineup. Funny, but when I watch CNN and MSNBC, they have opinion commentators. But again Woodard doesn’t complain about the opinions they put forth. Why? Because he agrees with them for the most part?

As to Sarah Palin, is she even half as bad as Joe Biden? Enough said. As an independent voter not tied to either party, I laugh a lot lately. Thanks to partisan comments made here, I’m able to laugh even more.

Bob Richards

Longview

The wild west

Forty-five years ago, I moved into my two-bedroom house on 23rd. Some changes have taken place. Ten to 12 children would go by to school at Olympia School. Now, none. Occasional horse and rider would go by, dogs ran free. New laws stopped that.

I started feeding the squirrels and still do. I’ve seen many families come and go out of the big maple tree out in front with sleeping and feeding accommodations. A pair of Mallard ducks showed up in the last five years for a hand out of cracked corn every morning and evening for about two months.

I saw a rabbit across the street one day. A neighbor had a porcupine in his back yard. I have seen several deer go by and signs of cats in my flower beds. I have catalogued 30 different birds in my back-yard feeder. A cooper hawk stops every morning waiting for a breakfast to come by. The best yet — a coyote came by on the sidewalk headed toward Olympia Way.

I think the Old West Side should be renamed the Old Wild West Side. Might apply to some of the residents.

Phil Pithan

Longview