To the Editor:
    At a recent visit to my doctor, the issue of health care reform came up.  I asked my doctor shouldn’t every citizen of this country, rich or poor, insured or uninsured, have access to adequate long term medical care, if needed.
    Several of my friends have said that the poor can go to the ER for medical care, and they don't have to pay for it.  My doctor told me of a case where a man came to him with bleeding from the colon.  He was a poor farm worker.  The doctor treated the man as well as he could, without charging him, but told him that he needed to have a colon exam.  The farm worker said that he could not because he did not have the money or insurance.  Even if he went to the ER and had a serious condition, like cancer of the colon, the ER could not provide him with the long term care that he would need.  This man could have been a young father with a family who needs him.
    This man could be you or your child who loses health care insurance because of losing a job that provides the insurance.  It could be you or your child who is refused insurance because of a pre-existing condition.  But, we don't want to think about that now, because we have a job, we have health care insurance, and our children have the same. But things can change.
    Yesterday, I spoke to a close relative who has a serious blood disorder.  She needs a medication that costs over $400 per month.  She is a single lady, retired from teaching, on a very limited income.  She does have insurance, but they refuse to pay for her medication. 

TTo the Editor:
 As many are beginning to realize there has been a recent strong push to create a new landfill in Morgan County. That was brought out by an overwhelming turn out for the Forum held September 14 by Commissioner Ellen Warren. Is one necessary?
    I don’t think so.
    Not now, anyway!
    More emphasis on recycling is the answer. Have you ever stopped to realize, over 80,000,000,000 aluminum soda cans are used every year and an aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now! Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute! If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year!

To the Editor:
    I read with some interest the letter from Ms. Kiki Pollard ("Your Letters," September 10, 2009) how all of the Republican Senators and Representatives are telling lies to block Obama’s agenda on healthcare. What I could not understand is why she did not admonish the other political persuasions for all of their lies. After some thought, I came to the conclusion that the truth was not at issue. What was at issue was anything that did not agree with her political ideology is seen as a lie.
    Ms. Pollard sees the Republicans as obstructionist and I see them as protectionist keep the federal government from getting bigger and bigger and more intrusive into my life.
    The issue of healthcare is truly an issue that must be addressed but to have some hastily written bill that few have read and even fewer understand is not what I want to see put in place. I am sure the insurance companies are spending large amounts to protect their interest as she stated but so are the Trial Lawyers on the other side of the fence to keep needed tort reform out.
    I do agree with Ms. Pollard on one issue and that is, pink slips do need to be handed out. I guess we will have to wait until 2010 to see who gets them.
Respectfully submitted,
Cotton Cummings
Madison
Via e-mail

To the Editor:
As an out-of-state subscriber my wife and I really enjoy your fine paper; we visit Madison often to see our daughter, Jamie Miles, and family. Great place to live.
    Read a recent article by Celia Murray. She is a strong advocate for the Democratic Party.
    She labeled Fox News a wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican Party. She neglected to say that ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and most of the media do the same for the Democratic Party.
    Finally my wife and I just completed a great Baltic Sea tour including two days in Russia where we  heard about the Russian Czars of old.
    I am in disbelief why our President has appointed 31 advisors he calls "Czars." What an insult to all Americans. We also visited Poland and found happy people proud of their democracy and freedom.
    I served in the Army at age 18 in Italy at the end of World War Two and helped replace many  of our of our troops who had been in combat. We must not forget their dedication to freedom AND THE PRINCIPALS OF OUR REPUBLIC.
Charlie  Collins
Orlando, Fla.
Via e-mail

To the Editor:  
    According to The College Board, the school system with the worst average SAT score in 2009 is the District of Columbia. It holds down the number 51 spot on the list.
    The average 2009 SAT score for Morgan County High School is 20 points LOWER than the average for the D.C. school system. So I applaud Dr. Wilson’s decision to work with Kaplan, Inc. to improve SAT scores. We need all the help we can get, and the Kaplan method seems to produce results. The $30,000 that Dr. Wilson will spend is a very small amount, given the overall Board of Education budget of approximately $28 million. In fact, it is almost pocket change. It is less than one-third the amount that the Board of Education donated to the aquatics center, and a bit more than twice what the Board of Education is spending to move the ELOST election forward by a year.
    Neither of those two expenditures adds to the average MCHS SAT score. Even if Kaplan helps with SAT scores, we will have other problems to tackle. The Kaplan program will not help with the dreadful end-of-course test results we saw in the spring, for example. But it is a start. Let us focus on this problem, solve it, and then move on to the next one. It is high time we did this. In many states, the average per pupil spending is much less than the $8,900 we spent last year, and standardized test scores are higher.
    For example, the latest number I have for per pupil spending in Utah shows a very low $5,437, or about 61 percent of what we spent. That state logged a 2009 SAT average score of 1657, which is 299 points higher than MCHS. Perhaps they do not have aquatics centers in Utah. All of this argues against a vote for ELOST IV. The problem is not that the school system does not have enough money.

To the Editor:
    The average lifespan in the USA is shorter, and the USA has the highest mortality rate of children under two years of age of any other major developed country in the world. In the USA health care costs as much as ten times that in other developed countries. It sounds like the USA is not doing that well with its current health care system.
     Many Americans are afraid of a national health care program (but not of Medicare, of course).  They worry that a national health care program, such as Canada’s, will mean having to wait several weeks for an appointment with a doctor. Under the current system, I cannot get an appointment to see my primary doctor usually in less than four weeks. Or, I can go in without an appointment and just hope that I see my doctor.  I have even reverted to snail mail letters to the doctor to have questions answered. 
    Some people are also afraid that a government plan would dictate what medical treatments are allowed.  Right now Big Insurance does this, in some cases approving procedures that are known to be less effective and more intrusive.   
    Some do not want a national health care program because they fear they will be priced out of affordable insurance. In the current system 46,000 Americans a week lose health care insurance, mainly because of the cost, which, for a family, can easily run over $1,000 a month. 
    But, the most important reason for our having a national health care system is the ultimate cost to the USA if we don't.  I believe that if we don't make this change soon, this country of ours will be broke in a few years, we will not be able to compete in the world market, and as a result we will lose our status as the leader of the free world. 
Al Dickerman
Madison
Via e-mail