It is a sad time for America



So, we are going to pay for universal health care by penalizing the hardest working people I know. The American taxpayer who gets up every morning and goes to work, often to a job and for people he (she) doesn’t like, and the doctors.

The Americans who have been paying for their own health care their entire lives are going to be asked to pay more and to give up some of the benefits they have earned. Don’t let the Obama administration tell you any different. If this outrage passes, most Americans will lose benefits and will pay more in taxes.

Doctors are the hardest working people I know. Most people do not have the intellect or stamina it takes to be a doctor. They study and train for years to work long hours and under great stress. A good doctor is the most underpaid worker in the country. Now Obama wants to reduce $500 billion in compensation to the health care providers. The hands-on doctors, nurses and technicians who actually save the lives. How ridiculous is that?

Are there people out there bilking the system? Absolutely! These individuals and concerns should be found and dealt with. Incompetent medical people should be removed.

But where is tort reform? We will never have affordable health care in this country for the masses until the lawyers are removed from the ERs and ORs. Why are pharmaceutical companies allowed to post profits in the billions of dollars every year? These are profits that often are made on the backs of Americans who really cannot afford the drugs, but are between a rock and a hard place. Drug companies should be made to reduce their profit margins immediately. The drug companies gave up nothing with Plan D.

I truly miss the America I grew up in. From its inception and on through the 1940s and 50s a person expected nothing to be given to him, and was required to work for everything he had. This work ethic is what made America the greatest civilization ever. That is no longer true.

A person can get by today without working at all, and this will now include earning his/her health care.

This is a sad time for America. We are being dumbed down and pushed into socialism. Look around and read. Socialism has never worked in any other country and it will not work in America.



John Fuller

Daniels



Support the locally owned businesses



I just ordered four pairs of jeans. They weren’t made in China. They were made in Bristol, Tenn., right here in Appalachia.

People like to complain about jobs being exported, but most of those same people run down to the local mega discount store and buy stuff made in those countries that took our jobs.

You can’t eat your cake and have it, too. Buy local if you aren’t too lazy to support American products. Support locally owned businesses. You can do it! Check out the Web site buylocal.com.



Charlie M. Feldhake

Beaver



b>Our responsibility to keep our children off ATVs



All terrain vehicles (ATVs) are becoming a permanent part of the scenery in my neighborhood. My husband and I are owners of an ATV and it has given us a lot of enjoyment. My children love to watch the dust blow up in the air as their father races up and down the hills.

After shopping around and reading the latest consumer reports, it did not take us long to decide it would be many years before we let our children ride an ATV. Leading pediatricians and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) have recently launched a campaign that promotes ATVs to be a significant public health risk. Their platform states the minimum age for operating an ATV should be at least 16 years on or off road. They further state that children under the age of 12 cannot possess the body size, strength, motor skills, or coordination necessary to safely handle an ATV; even the ATVs that are considered small enough to be “safe” by their manufacturers. It has also been proved that children under the age of 16 generally have not developed the perceptual abilities or the judgment required for the safe use of highly powered vehicles.

Currently in West Virginia the law states that anyone less than 16 must be supervised by an adult to operate an ATV, and if the passenger is less than 18, then the driver must be over 18. The only sense that this law makes to me is that the adult supervisor will at least be close by to witness the accident and then quickly call 911. The Consumer Product Safety Commission released statistics showing that over the past decade the number of children killed in off-road vehicle accidents increased by 88 percent.

As a parent, it is our responsibility to keep our children safe. As much as I love to watch my children enjoying the outdoors during a warm fall day, I will not jeopardize their safety. Please reconsider allowing your children on an ATV. Do not presume a smaller ATV to be safe because it is promoted that way by the manufacturer; do the research yourself. I bet you will be surprised and heartbroken by the statistics and stories you will find. Visit the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons to read about “All-Terrain Vehicle Safety” at orthoinfo.aaos.org.



Amy Helton

Beckley



Mr. Rahall is not looking out for constituents



I find it interesting that Congressman Rahall has been trying to convince the people of West Virginia that his vote on the health care reform bill reflected the sentiments of his constituents.

If his constituents are Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama, well, I guess he’s right and he voted correctly. If his constituents are the people of West Virginia, then I’m afraid you’ve got it wrong, Mr. Rahall. He said “he recognized the organized form of some of the opposition at the town hall meetings.” The only organizing that was present at the town hall meetings was a strong presence of labor unions.

Miraculously, after all the uproar of the town hall meetings was over with, he said the messages that came across his desk showed overwhelming support for the health care reform bill. I find that so interesting when the polls show that the bill is losing popularity every day, nationwide. Mr. Rahall, I want to inform you that labor unions are not the only voters in West Virginia and next election you are going to hear our voices loud and clear. Our seniors will let you know how much they appreciate you for voting to cut their Medicare benefits. This is just more of the same. You didn’t represent the people of West Virginia when you put your support behind Barack Obama knowing that he was no friend of coal either.

Now, you and your other Democrat buddies are trying to convince this administration that we need coal. It’s too little, too late.



Sue Donell

Mount Hope