Letters to the Editor
A few more words on Hagan, health care
Sunday, February 7, 2010 — James Misenheimer, chairman of the Democrat-ic Party, Stanly County, I certainly appreciate your response in the SNAP.
It would be a good idea if you would go back and read my note. It plainly asserts that the people are being shafted by Ms. Hagan’s voting record.
More to the point, I propose that we need to protect these people from the socialization of Obama-care. You seem to be bound by rhetoric and not fact.
My letter pointed to eight items that need to be left alone, from her supporting reducing Medicare by $500 billion to her supporting overwhelming Medicaid, driving it to an earlier bankruptcy. Her record of dismal support speaks for itself.
Since you have learned that “cost is a concern,” it seems your word is wanting and coasting along with blinders on, not me. Since you are interested in fixing healthcare let me give you a few ideas that I have broached to Sen. Burr and Hagan that we the people need:
• Tort reform. This will positively reduce malpractice insurance rates, end the nonsensical call for every conceivable test being run to preclude the fire engine chasing lawyers. With limited liability payments and forcing medical claims to binding arbitration will drive the cost of medicine down as the doctors and hospitals will not be running scared as now.
• Portability of healthcare insurance for workers so they can take their healthcare from job to job and in many cases keep their premiums lower and/or coverage intact.
• Ability to purchase healthcare across state lines to allow more competition in purchasing and allowing competition to set premiums instead of a few insurance politicians in our legislatures and Congress who keep driving the cost of medical care up.
• Allow drug companies to sell in the U.S. as they do in Canada. There should not be the extreme difference in wholesale cases between countries.
• End the waiting periods for coverage and prior conditions not being allowed to be insured.
Right now without any bills, laws, or pie-in-the-sky manifestations, she and the Democrat Senate could be doing something about the waste, fraud, double billing and the criminal misuses of Medicare and Medicaid. Why isn’t she speaking out for those thousands right here in Stanly?
These are a few more “ideas” I endorse besides the eight I wrote about and you ignored.
Now I will provide you a little detail to qualm your suppositions about me.
Yup, I have fallen off cabbage trucks, fallen off the hay wagon too, but was lucky enough to retain enough sense as a young man to know I ain’t cut out to be a Democrat. I was a John Kennedy advocate but like a kitten, my eyes eventually opened and I realized as a pizz-ant farm boy I was truly a conservative: Re-publican by choice, conservative by American beliefs.
I live, most probably unlike you, on my SS and Medicare Advantage plan (one of the things Ms. Hagan wants to end) along with a small pension. And, I doubt if you could comprehend, I have suffered financial setbacks and have had members of the family suffer during this ongoing “repression” losing healthcare and jobs.
That, sir, is why I wrote about Ms. Hagan in the first place.
Thomas M. McCluskey
New London
- Letters to the Editor
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Animal treatment not justifiable, SNAP bad for coverage of it
I am writing in reference to “Badin dog owner shares her story” (Feb. 25).
Michele Cleavenger’s treatment of her “family member” cannot be justified, period.
The sad fact is that Ms. Cleavenger put her already sick dog outside in the cold, and as a result, Bubba died. -
Where’s the help?
I am writing to relate an experience I had recently.
All of us have heard President Obama talk about making more funds available for small businesses.
As a small business owner, I was curious to see if I qualified for a loan or grant to upgrade and expand -
To your health
Having read several of Mr. McCluskey’s opinions, I am of the opinion that he is just a Republican wearing a “health care concern” costume, to disguise his political agenda.
The Democrats failed trying. The Republicans succeeded not trying. If one Democrat from Nebraska can influence proposed health care legislation, surely 40 Republican senators could . . . if they had wanted to. -
Thank you for your faithful service
Dear Editor:
In a time when so much of life seems transient and unsettled, it's good to have a couple of witnesses close by who show you something different. Carmella Hedrick and Charlotte Maness are two such witnesses. -
Wildcat Players thanks you for your support
I would like to publicly thank the community for their support of Stanfield School's recent production of "HOLES" by the Wildcat Players.
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Another note of thanks
Recently, there was a letter of gratitude from someone in our community about the fine folks at Deeck Mechanical. I read the letter and honestly thought that I could have written it. It said exactly what I wanted to say, and I wanted to confirm that with my own letter to you.
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Owning better than renting
I was elected as your mayor this past November and since that time I have worked diligently with the City Council and city staff on plans to make Locust an even better place to live, work and play.
At the same time we have worked hard on ways to streamline our expenses by consolidating work loads and moving some fulltime positions to part time positions. -
Thank you
Thank you to the presidents of the Rotary Clubs of Albemarle, Charlotte, Gas-tonia, Gastonia East, Gaston Breakfast, Monroe and Shelby.
Thanks to the great generosity of your clubs and other contributions made by Rotarians to the Rotary Foundation of Gaston County, a medical team from our region departed this evening (Feb. 14) for Haiti.
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Thank you for being considerate
Although I am much later than I should be in writing this letter, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the good people who make the effort to help the elderly. My husband and I are both in our 80s, and we have benefited directly from such kindness. A few specific acts that come to mind are people holding doors for us and helping us load our groceries into our car.
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We need to take better care of animals
I am writing in order to increase awareness of the plight of animals in Stanly County.
As I ride through the county, I see dogs chained to trees unable to get to their food and water, often there is no food or water. This winter I have witnessed dogs outside without proper shelter from cold, rain or snow.
- More Letters to the Editor Headlines
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Animal treatment not justifiable, SNAP bad for coverage of it
