By Dave Gebhard
We need to quit listening to lying e-mails and recognize that many people are just scared of change. It is a national tragedy that the middle and lower middle class in America have to pay exorbitant amounts for eye and dental care. They do not make enough to pay for them and make too much to get it free. That is fine if you are one who can pay for those crowns and root canals, but those of us who cannot are not amused. Who pays for my prescription reading glasses? Myself, who cannot pay for the crowns for my teeth.
I get sick reading e-mails claiming quite seriously that the health bill will give Social Security to illegal aliens, check out immigration ? So many people are not just ignorant, but gullible. Buzzwords convince them that socialists are corrupting our country and common sense is not common among them.
Socialism is not a “bad” word. Europe, Canada, and Australia have been called semi-socialist and they are still free and capitalistic. The happiest countries in the world, those of Scandinavia, are semi-socialist. The have socialized medicine in Europe and it has not watered down the care, in fact, it has increased it. People like to compare the number of CAT Scans given, ignoring the fact that most of those in this country are unnecessary.
A Social Security blanket is the envy of the world and we should not just put it down without real study. We are not very sensible people, considering a just and logical “flat tax” to be unrealistic, and health care for all to be too expensive. Preventive health care would save the taxpayers billions in the long run. Hospitals and doctors will not turn away a seriously ill patient, even without insurance. The cost gets passed along to the taxpayer. It seems reasonable to allay the cost by a little care while the illness is minor.
Dave Gebhard
Lakeport
