Letters to the Editor 8/16

Enough with the bashing of Gov. Gibbons

Let's just get a few things straight around here, shall we?

I do not know Gov. Gibbons, have never met the man. But, fair is fair. All I see in print and read and hear from the media is "pile-on-the-governor."

Whether it is true or not doesn't matter in this game, so it seems. So, Chuck, ole boy, in my book you still owe the governor an apology. All you had to do was call the governor's office and ask for Ward, and he is most able to give you the dates that the governor left for Iraq and Afghanistan. Which, in case you are interested in dates (you seem to be quibbling over three days), the meeting in Las Vegas was July 13. I believe he left on the 16th. You can check that.

You know very well there had to be some preparations for such a trip, such as security, notifying military bases and whatever we don't know. So come off it!

As for Carolyn Tate and Maize Harris Jesse, they had the audacity to actually imply that the governor had accepted money for his trip. They called it "gratuitous." Now, just what the devil are they implying? Enough is enough of this governor bashing.

There are so many more important crazy things going on with our country, we should all be interested and get involved. Agree?

Rheba Montrose

Carson City

Meeting critical needs should be the priority

I am furious with the stalling, lying tactics of those who hope to scuttle health care reform simply because they want to defeat Obama.

Never mind the millions who don't have decent care because insurers won't cover them, or the people whose friends organize spaghetti feeds to pay for lifesaving treatments, or the bankruptcies due to medical bills. Scoring points for their political party is more important.

And because they don't have legitimate arguments, they rely on lies to incite the gullible. Rationed health care? That's what we have now. Socialized medicine describes Medicare. Runaway abortions and euthanizing seniors - pure, calculated lies designed to panic senior and conservative voters.

The rising cost of health care is holding back our families, businesses and economy, and we'd be crazy to keep paying more and getting less than other countries. We need universal health insurance now. If we don't adopt a single-payer system, we must at least offer the choice of a public plan with the ability to negotiate prices with providers. The priority should be meeting people's needs, not making excessive profits.

And to the thugs who disrupt town hall meetings, your right to free speech allows you to comment when it's your turn, but it does not extend to denying the rest of us the right to hear from our representatives and ask questions. That's unAmerican, and rather than revive your party, you will destroy it with these tactics.

Vicki Bates

Gardnerville

Carson ROTC leaders thanked for service

This letter's purpose is to publicly thank Commander Canady and Sgt. Major Baker for their past and continuing years of teaching at Carson High School in the Nevada Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program.

I have three sons who have enjoyed four years each in this program and have emerged happy, self-confident, civic-minded, kind and strong young men.

I truly feel they have helped me raise my boys, and have played a huge part in shaping them into the men they've each become that I am so proud of.

Because of their hard work, long hours worked and patience, I have a great respect and personal gratitude to each of them.

Janet Matzke

Carson City

Age, not health will dictate medical care

Open letter to Sen. Harry Reid:

Thank you for responding to my e-mail. I, however, did not get a response regarding the reason why all in Congress should not have the same insurance as the rest of us. It seems that if it were such a good deal, you should be willing to accept the same plan.

I would also like an answer about retaining our current insurance coverages. We are getting a lot of lip service about us having a choice, but what happens when private insurance cannot compete with the government; what about an employer who finds it much cheaper to pay the fine than provide insurance coverage? We will then be forced into government coverage. A plan that takes these choices from us is not a plan for the people.

Why are the town hall meetings just keep saying the same things over and over? Why are the people not able to ask specific questions about this plan and get specific answers?

If Congress is so busy that they don't have time to read the whole bill and explain every paragraph to their constituents, then maybe you should send the bill to the people to read. Let us decide our fate based on facts and figures.

My personal opinion based on what little information is available to the public is that the health care bill will be on the backs of the elderly. Seniors and the elderly will be denied procedures not because of their health but because of their age.

Marlene Day

Minden

Doctor calls Obama's language irresponsible

The biggest aftermath of the July 22 press conference by President Obama has been regarding the Cambridge police affair where the president admitted that he did not know all the facts but still stated that the police "acted stupidly." There was no apology to police officers. 

During the same press conference, the president stated, "... your child has a bad sore throat or repeated sore throats, the doctor may look at the reimbursement system and say to himself, you know what, I make a lot more money if I take this kid's tonsils out."

The president is implying that most doctors are greedy and unethical. Although there are some unethical doctors, the vast majority of physicians are honestly working to help people. The idea of putting a patient under the knife with possible complications when it is not necessary only to get money is abhorrent. As a physician, I take great offense.

His statement also displays great ignorance regarding the way the medical system works. The doctor who accesses the sore throat is a primary care physician who has nothing to gain by his treatment choice. The person performing the surgery is a different doctor, a surgeon.

With inept, inaccurate and irresponsible statements like these, how can anyone trust President Obama and the government to put the best health care system in the world under the knife? The greatest need for our current system is tort reform, not government control. The Obama plan would be a prescription for disaster.

Matthew Barulich, M.D.

Carson City

Right-wing extremist and darn proud of it

Dear All Americans,

I have come before all of you to make a confession: I am proud to be a right-wing extremist.

But let me ask all of you this one very simple question. Do you stand up and voice your opinion or at least let your views be known either by your written word or your voice when you feel strongly about an issue? When you do voice your opinion, do you like being labeled?

Well guess what? According to what our politicians say, or at least what the Democrats have said, you are all extremist. You now have a label, get used to it because if you oppose anything that Obama says, you are wrong.

Is this what America is coming to? Are we supposed to sit back and let our elected officials run all over us? Are we not allowed to question our government on anything now that Obama is in office? Didn't people protest when Bush was in office? You bet they did. Was it upsetting to us on the right? You bet it was. Did we accept it? You bet we did. Freedom of speech is part of our great country along with peaceful demonstrations.

It is our right to voice our opinions. Please, always remember that.

Lee Elliott

Carson City

Risky business when revealing local secrets

It was with an air of concern I read the Appeal's recent article about how to hike to the waterfall near Kings Canyon. Ideally, spreading the location of beautiful local places promotes the community. There are also risks involved with broadcasting its location.

I was dismayed with what I saw when I visited the waterfall about a week after the article was published. Two gangs and white supremacists had heavily tagged the path leading to the waterfall and all the rock formations around it. The amount of litter, which was light, had increased greatly and someone had even left a badly worn coat. What was an amazing place to spend an hour or two has been seriously damaged.

While the Appeal article may not have triggered the damage, never have I seen such a dramatic change. It would be wise when possible, to allow individuals to spread the location of our local treasures through word of mouth, to prevent groups who would damage our natural wonders, from finding such places.

Patrick Mobley

Carson City

Partisan infighting costing Main Street

In the Aug. 12 Appeal there were two stories that were ironically placed next to one another.

The first tells of the worst drop in Nevada casino gaming wins on record. State Budget Director Andrew Clinger is quoted as saying that gaming tax collections, which make up 30 percent of the revenue for the state general fund, are already $2.17 million short of projections for this fiscal year's budget.

Nevada continues its brutal fight to stay afloat and provide services to its residents during this historic and once-in-a-lifetime recession in our local, state and national economy and the battle is far from over.

On the same page, we see that the Board of Examiners has approved $415,000 of our taxpayer money to hire outside counsel to prosecute our lieutenant governor, Brian Krolicki, for a matter involving a state college savings program advertising campaign. The article also states that Mr. Krolicki's actions were on the advisement of the State Attorney General's Office prior to and during the expenditures for the advertising campaign and that "no one has suggested any money is missing" or unaccounted for.

Regardless of what budget category the $415,000 comes from, the real crime here is the use of our taxpayer money at a time like this to support partisan infighting and a legal wild goose chase while critical areas of the budget are underfunded.

The outcome of this case means nothing to main street Nevadans yet we are paying for it.

Mark Turner

Carson City