Letters To The Editor

Dear Sir:
I read El Ojo cover to cover each month, usually over a period of several days. Could not wait to get into each and every article this time, though. Alas, I think Dr. Crosby has hit the nail right on the head regarding Obama-care. A pure and simple plan would have been to expand Medicare to each and every citizen, funded by tax monies, perhaps shared by states and the federal government. I believe Canada operates under such a system. Politically, such a wise and uncomplicated plan would have been doomed from day one. Too many in Congress are in the pockets of the insurance industry.
And that, I fear, is the underlying issue, corruption of the political process in the US by addiction to filthy lucre. If contributions to political parties or candidates were made illegal, with stiff and consistent enforcement, we could have sane and responsible government. I fear that such a happy state of affairs will never exist in the US, given that the very people who are part of the problem would have to legislate the problem out of existence.
Back in the 90’s, I actually knew a Republican congressman in Ohio who spoke to the student body at a Catholic high school and admitted that, of course he accepted vacations and favors from lobbyists; that is how the system is supposed to work. Given the political biases of that district, I doubt that anyone called him to task for his venality and chicanery.
Bad as it is, I think President Obama offered perhaps the least worst health care legislation that had any hope of passing both houses of Congress. Politics is the art of the possible, and, given that truth, the rest of us suffer the consequences.
Be that as it may, my compliments to Dr. Crosby for his strong, insightful column. You may feel free to pass my comments on to him.
Dr. Lorin Swinehart
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