Letters
Let us recall that President Obama campaigned for office with the promise of health care reform. And, we elected him to do just that.
And so, he began an effort to draft a bill after he was elected. Many are unhappy with the bill that resulted, but, keep in mind that 3,000 lobbyists from the health care industry descended on Washington, D.C. to influence the bill, and the end product was the best that the administration could do under the circumstances.
Some folks are saying Obamacare is bad because it forces people to have health insurance. All the folks on Social Security have Medicare.
They (like me) are forced to pay for Medicare – it is taken out of our check. Have you ever heard one person complain about Medicare because they are forced to pay for it? Not!
I found a site that calculated my payment for health insurance under Obamacare in California. I entered my circumstances, except used a younger age (at my age, I get Medicare). My health insurance under Obamacare would be $244. With Medicare and supplemental, my actual health insurance is about $255. Obamacare is very reasonably priced.
Then, why the obstruction?
First, there are enough Republican votes to pass the budget, according to my son. Speaker Boehner is refusing to accept the plan, and it can’t pass without his approval.
One man is jamming the machinery of government. How can he do this? He can do it because his stand on Obamacare does not threaten his reelection, which is also true of many other Republican congressman.
This means that their constituencies are saying, “I don’t want health care for myself and my family.” The irony is that many are middle class and working poor, and yet they have the same world view as millionaires, who have no issue paying their own health care.
So, the reason the government is closed is that some people vote against their own interests. They see the world through the same prism as do the rich.
This is doubly sad, because there are many more of us than there are of them. How do we turn on the lights in the hinterland?
Nelson Strasser lives in Lakeport, Calif.
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- Written by: Nelson Strasser
I would like to explain why the Sierra Club has endorsed Measure H, which would raise funds for road repair in the city of Clearlake, as well as for code enforcement.
It has long been evident that erosion from deteriorating streets in the city of Clearlake results in the introduction of soil and road surface pollutants into Clear Lake, and that excessive nutrients from hard surface runoff of this kind contribute to noxious algae blooms.
Very suggestively, the county's recent analysis of satellite images of Clear Lake has shown a “hot spot” in the lake adjacent to the city of Clearlake area consistent with a high level of pollution from this source.
By providing the funding needed to repair the city streets, Measure H will reduce erosion and discharge of polluted waters into the lake.
Effective code enforcement will also reduce pollution by removing sources of toxic materials in the city, including those originating from excessive marijuana grows in violation of the city's cultivation ordinance.
These are the primary reasons that the Sierra Club supports this ballot initiative. Therefore, we ask the voters in Clearlake to support and vote for Measure H.
Ed Robey is chair of the Sierra Club Lake Group. He lives in Lower Lake, Calif.
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- Written by: Ed Robey
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