LETTERS: Health care exchanges; A cover-up; and economic debacle

Stick to original intent

Conservatives like John Graham and Linda Gorman ("Colorado:Forget about health benefits exchanges," April 13) show a bafflingreluctance to acknowledge victory. They have long argued for market-based solutions to the health care crisis. In response, the billCongress passed last year created entities called "exchanges"whereby folks can band together and buy private insurance. Likeevery new idea, this one may need some tinkering before it works asintended. But it's a sincere attempt to keep the government out ofhealth care - what conservatives say they want.

Now the Colorado Legislature has a bipartisan bill before it - SB200 - that does the same thing. But one of the bill's co-sponsors,House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, wants to add an amendment makingthe bill contingent on Colorado's receiving a waiver from all theprovisions of the 2010 health care law, thereby smashing herbipartisan coalition and telling all those who benefitted from theother provisions of the federal bill - like folks with pre-existingconditions and young adults not yet able to buy their own insurance -to take a hike.

We deserve better than this from our elected officials. Please,Ms. Stephens, work together with your colleagues - as you brieflyseemed willing to do - and stick to your original intent of makingaffordable health coverage available to more Coloradans.

Amy Plapp

Gleneagle

Sick of the cover-up

This morning, April 14, I read the article "NATO falters withoutU.S. in lead" in The Gazette. Even though we have been toldrepeatedly that we are not involved by our government, this articlerevealed that on three occasions since April 4 we have used U.S.electronic warfare planes. What is even more disturbing is thatyesterday on the Internet there was an article saying we have beeninvolved in airstrikes 97 times since April 4. In the article thismorning, it says that the U.S. is not reconsidering assuming alarger role. I should hope not, as we have already assumed thelargest role. The next thing would be troops on the ground. Whoknows? Maybe they are already there, and we don't know about it. Ithink it is time for the real news to be published and not hiddenaway. I am sick of the cover-up. Will the real news people stand upand publish the truth? It is time that the government does what itsays it is doing - get out of Libya.

Alma Smith

Colorado Springs

Continued redirection of wealth

Your headline (April 10) "Conservatives gain victory at brink ofa shutdown" reminds me that often in our history such "victories"have ended in economic and social chaos due to flawed conservativeeconomic policies and practices. In modern times, we haveexperienced the Harding-Coolidge-Hoover Great Depression of 1929,Voodoo Reaganomics, and the latest Bush Great Recession of 2008-09.

These policies have always been to benefit the rich, harm thepoor and fool the middle class into acting against its owninterests. A Clinton surplus turned into a Bush deficit. Spendinggiveaways to insurance, pharmaceutical, and investment corporationswithout taxation, outsourcing American jobs and bailing out banks,increase the deficit. The Bush-Obama wars waste what is left, thatmight benefit the general welfare of the middle class and workingpoor. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, unemployment benefits,and public education are the targets after the $38 billion"compromise" in the name of "limited government."

Power doesn't simply evaporate. It is now being transferred to anunlimited and unregulated private corporate take-over of the publicpossessions of American citizens. We see not the end of spending butthe continued redirection of wealth, begun by Reagan, and engineerednow by a coalition of globalizers, empire-builders and extremereligious and political factions. The Washington Post reported thatSouthern conservatives claim this as "a continuation of the effortsof Jefferson Davis and the other secessionists in the 1860's," thesecond attempt at confederacy.

The first confederacy emerged after the Boston Tea Party and wasrejected for our present form of national government.

Will the third be the result of the victory you headlined? Oureconomic debacle will not end until we replace this movement withthat of those who in the distant past would bring "good news to thepoor" and "liberty to the oppressed." Isn't that what we mean by"with liberty and justice for all"?

Bill Durland

Colorado Springs