NEWSLANC EDITOR: The below questions set forth important issues, some of which are based upon inaccurate information. We appreciate the input and respectfully respond.
1) You may go to any emergency room in the nation and get healthcare. How much more “guarantee” do you want?
NL: That is the most expensive form of healthcare there is for non-emergency matters and does nothing to prevent people having real emergencies. The goal of the Affordable Health Care Act is a healthier population at reduced cost through preventive care over the years.
2) Just what is “quality” education? USA spends more on education than any other nation. Can you even explain what “quality” education is? I doubt it. How does one address the hundreds of thousands of children who, perhaps because of culture, do little or nothing to become educated, and in many cases help create a climate that prevents others from getting educated?
NL: Over two or three generations, we have seen a remarkable improvement in the educational level of African-Americans in general and working class Whites. We may now be moving in a better direction by encouraging the teaching of technical skills for a well compensated work force of the future.
3) Climate control is a euphemism for a segment of our society to get rich off of the poorer among us. There is not a better get rich scheme than one that takes over 100 years to see results. Perhaps never if big “polluters” like China and India don’t get immediately on board.
NL: If people don’t care about the well being of others throughout the world or even of their own children and grandchildren or believe that Global Warming is a farce, I encourage them to invest their life savings into beach front properties.
Ignoring the changes that global warming are already creating would be running a huge gamble. The Chinese have come to take pollution control into their consideration and hopefully India and others in Asia will soon do the same. Right now they are the ones choking on foul air. Air quality in our country is remarkably improved over the past couple of decades.
4) With government permission, we all have the right to control our bodies, but not the bodies of others whether or not they temporarily exist within us. Don’t believe me? Try selling dope to a cop.
NL: There are several states in the country where one could offer ‘pot’ to a cop without legal repercussions. If you are anti-abortion rights, we would agree after a certain point of viability of the fetus except where the mother’s life was in danger.
5) Extricating one’s hard earned money to give to slackers makes no sense to me. Why should my family live less well so others can live off my work? This may seem hard but how does one tell the difference between the deserving and the undeserving? Or is there a difference.
NL: Studies have shown that, by and large, those who are most vehement in criticizing government aid are often the largest recipients. Yes, the liberal states pay far more taxes than they receive benefits and the conservative states are usually the ones who receive more aid than they pay in. So who are the “slackers”?
Most talk of “welfare queens” is largely based on myths, although there is a small minority who do seek to game the system.
The reason why those oppressed by slavery have been able to be assimilated into society has been the helping hand to parents and children over the decades. Whites in even greater numbers have also benefited.
Ironically, our present hardships and inequalities that triggered voter rebellion against Democrats in the recent election were in large part due to the obstruction by the Republican Congress preventing government spending to get the unemployed back to work. Had we utilized fiscal stimulus rather than relying solely on monetary means, we would have reached the current high employment level and with much higher wages and far less inequalities four years ago.
