New bill can help KC families
To the Editor:
In response to your editorial last week on the health care bill, I would like to offer the following information.
According to a Patchwork Nation study, the uninsured rate in Klickitat County is 16.5 percent. According to information presented by one professional from Klickitat Valley Health (KVH) and corroborated by one board member, KVH is currently absorbing $10,000 per month to treat the uninsured in its emergency room. Much of this pain, suffering, and inefficiency should eventually be alleviated by provisions of the new health care bill.
As far as the “significant tax” on high-income earners, it will amount to a .9 percent increase in Medicare tax on any amount above $200,000 for a single payer and $250,000 for a family. This will apply on earned income. A 3.8 percent tax will be imposed on high net worth households with the above income on unearned income. Neither tax takes effect until 2013.
Is the new bill perfect? No, but it should help significant numbers here in Klickitat County.
Lewis L. McFarland
Goldendale
Socialism on the march in federal government
To the Editor,
For more than 200 years this country has fought battles against fascism, communism, socialism, and all forms of dictatorships. We have fought all over the world to put down corrupt governments and their so-called leaders. Millions of men and women have died and been injured protecting this country and supporting a system of democracy.
Now I see the undoing of what we were fighting for!
The Constitution, Bill of Rights, and all the things that govern the way this country lives by and fought for are being eroded by our own government and its current leaders. The devastation and destruction of our principles and values are systematically being torn apart, shredded, and thrown aside.
Socialism is underlined in all kinds of decisions recently made by the current administration. Just look at all the political appointments made and see the social values they stand for, the corrupt devices and ideas being used to push a socialistic agenda.
Dictators’ ideals and methods are being used in a corrupt way to get anything done that this administration wants. Obama, Pelosi, and Reed lead this charge to change our form of government! They are not very subtle.
By passing the Health Bill using every devious method to get necessary votes, they now control another sixth of our economy. By the way, the college student loan control was in the Health Bill. Why? More control is why!
Next they will go after an amnesty program for illegal aliens, reform the bank regulatory system, make changes to control energy output and the way it is used, and the list goes on!
No to socialism, no to Marxism, no to communism, no to fascism, no to dictators, no to Obama, no to Reed, no to Pelosi, and no to progressives.
Ron Kinsella
Goldendale
Russian 9/11 memorial goes too unnoticed
To the Editor:
The people of Russia brought a gift to the people of America. Have you seen the “Monument to the Struggle against World Terrorism”?
The struggle against world terrorism was conceived as the events of 9/11 unfolded and Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli walked the streets of Moscow.
Struck by the outpouring of grief he observed, a memorial with an image of a tear formed in his mind. Shortly after the attacks, Tsereteli visited ground zero and looked to New Jersey’s waterfront for an appropriate site for a monument honoring victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks.
This monument was shipped to the U.S. in six sections and assembled by a group of Russian artisans. Tsereteli spent several months in the U.S. overseeing construction of the memorial.
On Sept. 11, 2006, at 2:30 p.m. on the northeast corner of Bayonne Peninsula in New Jersey, they unveiled the “New World Monument” remembering the victims of Sept. 11, 2001 and the 1993 World Trade Center bombings.
At 175 tons, its center contains a jagged tear. In it hangs a 40-foot stainless steel teardrop, representing the sadness and grief over the loss of life, but also hope for a future free from terror.
Etched in granite on an 11-sided base are the names of the nearly 3,000 killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings and terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. It stands across from the Statue of Liberty.
Time cures everything, but there are things we cannot and must not forget. Standing more than 100 feet tall, the monument honors victims and serves as a symbol of solidarity in the fight against world terrorism. Look for it on the internet; the video is truly amazing.
Why wasn’t this peaceful gesture reported by the press?
Diane Allen
Goldendale
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