Letters to the Editor (July 24): Pools, media, health care

Pool the support

I grossed $32,000 last year. I will donate $100 toward the $60,000 needed for poor children to have a pool.

I challenge the Kochs, downtown developers and the rest of the you driving $50,000 automobiles with Jesus bumper stickers, plus fish on the back, to step up.

Equal time on radio

With the stroke of a pen in 1986, President Reagan placed our country in real jeopardy by signing a bill that killed the Fairness Doctrine. Enacted in 1948 by a Republican Congress, the act was intended to not suppress opinions (as some argue) but to enhance healthy and useful discussion between opposing viewpoints. In a nutshell, the law states that if an opinion is expressed on our airwaves, then someone who disagrees must have the opportunity to refute it by giving them equal time to speak. What in the world is wrong with that?

In the late 1960s, liberal hosts dominated talk radio, and because the Fairness Doctrine was applied, that domination ended. It did not stifle opinion but rather broadened it.

The negative results of Reagan’s actions 30 years ago has now resulted in the most toxic president in our history, and much of this toxicity was achieved by the spreading of what is now called “fake news” and conservative radio talk-show hosts.

Locally, AM stations 1480 and 1330 host only right-wing views, excluding any chance of challenging the accuracy of what they tell their audiences.

The founders wrote the First Amendment with a purpose in mind, and it was not to have one man dominate another man’s right to free speech.

Identify ACA’s strong points

The House of Representatives and the Senate have many difficulties in coming up with repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. It is a complex situation to come up with an agreement of a majority members of Congress. Its strong points are to take care of preexisting conditions, having dependents stay on the parent’s health plan until the age of 26, and not dropping a person from health insurance due to expensive needed care.

My thinking has always emphasized evaluating the causes for the high price of insurance and pharmaceuticals, then remedy the problem. Certainly, there are procedures available to lower those two costs. Having a single-payer health insurance plan could certainly lower involved expenses. Thus, payment would come from the same source as Medicare does. It minimizes or eliminates the costs of exchanges as is presently the case in the Affordable Care Act. Payment for medical services, then, comes directly from Medicare sources. Providing for the common welfare, as stated in the Constitution, is poignant whereby all are covered with health insurance.

This story was originally published July 24, 2017 at 5:10 AM with the headline "Letters to the Editor (July 24): Pools, media, health care."