because we have looked to “insurance” to pay the bill. As long as someone else is paying the bill, there is no incentive for keeping costs down.

The “Cash for Clunkers” program worked “so well,” thousands of car dealers are waiting for their money promised under the program. 

Social Security is going broke, Medicare was $30 billion in the red the last I heard, the Post Office and Amtrak have reported continued losses.

One comment I have heard several times was that the Republicans were “MIA” – Missing in Action – on the debate.

‘Scuse me. I have heard several Republicans offer solutions but the “Obamacrats” just don’t want to hear them. Many have offered bills of their own, including our own Kay Bailey Hutchison. But the Democrats haven’t been interested.

The biggest need, of course, is tort reform. We have got to find a way to keep lawyers from getting rich at the expense of the rest of us through phony malpractice suits.

That costs you in two ways. First, the doctor has to run countless tests just to protect himself. And the cost of his malpractice insurance is through the roof. You pay that with your doctor’s bill.

An ad that runs all the time on television these days suggests if you are sick in any way, just give them a call and they’ll find someone to sue. And you’ll put millions in your pocket – after they take their 75 percent cut, of course.

There has to be a way for people to recover from actual medical mistakes but the pendulum has swung way too far in favor of the lawyers.

Other sensible ideas include giving individuals the same tax break businesses get on insurance premiums, letting people buy policies across state lines, portability so people can keep their policies when they change jobs, medical savings accounts – there are a lot of good ideas.

But whatever we do, we have to let the patient and his doctor make the decisions, not the government. And not the insurance company.

We have gotten into the present problem mostly

 

are right.

The tiniest bill I have heard about runs to more than 600 pages. Others are 1,000 pages or more.

But no matter what all those millions of words say – or is it billions? – the final wording will be provided by bureaucrats.

Now, I have nothing against individual bureaucrats. They are people just trying to make a living like most of us. They get paid for writing rules so, if they are going to earn their keep, they are going to write rules.

The Post Office right now is struggling with some new “rules.” Will these rules make things better or improve the service USPS gives to you? Not likely. They are just new rules because that’s what bureaucrats do. They write rules.

Regardless, the biggest problem I have with any of the proposed bills is that they put the government in charge of running our health care. I don’t care what you call it, it still is government-run health care.

With few exceptions, the government does not run anything very well, and particularly any kind of social welfare program.

Just this week came word that the Social Security Administration “mistakenly” sent 1,700 stimulus checks worth a total of $425,000 to jail inmates. Oops.

 

To the Editor,

Here is my reply to Congressman Ciro Rodriquez and his comments on “health care reform” last week (News Leader, Aug. 21, Page 2.)

The Democrats in both the House of Representative  and the Senate have voted down all proposed amendments demanding they sign themselves on to the very healthcare plan they want to pass for the people.

I want you to provide a hard copy of the 17 gold-plated health care plans that lawmakers get to choose from and refuse to give up, the very healthcare plans funded mostly by us, the taxpayers.

Washington claims we will be receiving the same coverage they do. I want to see the plans, and know the costs so I can compare and contrast. Will you provide them? If so, where, when and what format?

I want to know why the UAW, SEUI and ACORN are being given a pass from health care reform.

I want you to take a message back to Washington – specifically to the Democrats such as the socialists in Washington who love to speak ill of “evil corporations,” “evil CEOs,” “evil big oil,” “evil car companies,” “evil lobbyists” and now “evil insurance companies.” And there is a crisis around every corner.

Let’s speak a moment about the incompetent, corrupt, evil politicians who have set themselves up as royalty –- such as Obama, Axelrod, Emanuel, Pelosi, Reid and Frank.

Rep. Rodriquez, you violated the core tenants of capitalism when you voted for the bailout while ignoring the warnings of many economists and the demands of your voters.

Now, Speaker Pelosi speaks of some “healthcare co-ops.”

We did not elect you to run our economy or our lives. We elected you to fight for us and to keep Texas and America free and strong.

We elected you to lead and rule based on the Constitution of these United States – lead by True Democratic, not party, principles and you have failed us.

If these socialist do-gooders really want to insure the uninsured, then let them begin a private foundation that will personally insure each and every one.

Between Soros, Winfrey, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Huffington, socialist Hollywood actors, members of the AMA and all of the other multi-multi millionaires supporting this nonsense, they can easily afford to insure each and every one of these individuals and they can do so without having to claim control of the lives of the American people via the healthcare system.

But that’s what they really want – control of the people. They care not one wit about the uninsured.

You want to reform the healthcare industry? Begin with eliminating these God-forsaken HMOs and permit us to purchase healthcare across state lines.

We have a problem in Washington and it’s greater than any political ideology or issue.

You Washington politicians are out of control and the corruption is beyond the pale.

Members of congress make almost $200,000 a year in salary for working two thirds of the year. Nancy Pelosi makes around $230,000. 

Your incomes are guaranteed for life. The majority of our elected officials in Washington are multi, multi-millionaires yet, as unemployment numbers continue to rise across the country and we struggle to keep our homes and feed and clothe our children, our members of Congress have also given themselves the following perks at taxpayer expense:

17 Gold-plated health care options.

Luxury gas-guzzling cars.

Chauffeurs.

Luxury housing and five-star hotels.

Prime-spot, free parking in a garage, which costs other residents hundreds of dollars per month.

Private planes and world travel.

$3,000 cash – not accounted for or reimbursed – for each and every trip

An expense account.

Automatic pay raises, voted into law by yourselves.

Payoffs for family and political friends who have given high dollar donations via government contracts worth billions.

When Washington insiders refuse to pay their taxes, such as Rangel and Geithner, they are rewarded with high-paying positions.

Taxpayers go to jail.

These are just a few examples of what Washington politicians have bestowed upon themselves.

With your grand salaries and personal fortunes why are you all continuing to loot from us? Why is every one of you not paying for your own housing, planes, cars, chauffeurs, world travel, high priced hotels, tickets, jewelry, etc?

Why are you not living by the same demands and expectations placed on us?

You are not royalty and no longer will you be permitted to act as such. You are our servants and nothing more.

We do not work for you. You work for us. We do not answer to you. You answer to us.

You serve due to the good graces of the citizens of this nation.

What is good enough for us is good enough for you and yours.

Some in Washington will say these perks are necessary in case of a national emergency.

I say, “No, they are not.” Every one of you is replaceable and there is someone qualified to fill your position immediately in the unfortunate event that may become necessary.

You, and all other Texas representatives are on notice. You had best have a true conversion to capitalism quickly.

Should you be challenged by a true believer in American capitalism and freedom that will not violate the tenants of the Constitution and will speak out and act to defend the Constitution of the United States and the peoples of this nation, I will not only be voting for them but I will be actively campaigning for them.

You are not beholden to the DNC or your friends in politics. You are beholden to us, the voter.

The party is over.

Helen  Zeyen

Sanderson

To the Editor,

You don’t know the kindness and concern that was shown us during the recent fire here on the ranch (News Leader, Aug. 21, Page 1.)

There are too many to mention but special thanks goes to County Judge Leo Smith, Commissioner Kenn Norris, Assistant Fire Chief David Brotherton, Airport Manager Charlie Curry, the county boys and Road and Bridge Supervisor Mike Sanchez, Flaco Sutton, Gary Hutto, Della Fuentes, Albert Thorn and all the Volunteer Fire Department, the Monty Harkins Ranch crew, David Marquez, Susie Pendleton, the Texas Forest Service and their pilots and dozer operators, the Los Diablos firefighters from Coahuila, Mexico, and all the support people that finally beat the fire.

That which does not kill you makes you stronger.

Steve Forest Ranch

Sanderson

To the Editor,

The recent brush/grass fire north of town deserves a big “thank you” to the volunteer firefighters who respond to protect our property and lives.

It may not have been your or my property they were working to protect but it could well be the next time and certainly could have been had the wind shifted toward town.

Too often, we take for granted what our safety public servants do for our community – police, EMS and firefighters.

And not to diminish whatsoever the noble and sometimes dangerous job law enforcement officers do as part of their paid public service – they certainly deserve our appreciation and admiration, too.

But volunteer firefighters do their service un-paid – helping their friends and neighbors in their community and we owe them our gratitude beyond what we don't pay them.

Several years ago when I worked for Texas Monthly magazine, I enrolled in the volunteer firefighter training at Texas A&M as part of a story I was writing about small town VFDs and I discovered first­hand just a glimpse of the demands and risks firefighters endure – especially small, rural departments with limited manpower, equipment and the challenging terrain encountered in rugged, remote areas like ours.

My inspiration for the story were our neighbors and friends – members of the Tomball and Rosehill VFDs who successfully extinguished the upstairs fire of my childhood home in Rosehill in 1972.

Shame on me for not having joined the volunteers here but this fire has motivated me to enlist and do what I can. I'll be at Thursday's meeting.

Many of us in town may assume that a pasture or range fire may only burn up a few sotol, yuccas and be even happy that some cedars and mesquite get consumed in the process, too.

But the destruction and damage to ranches and pastures can be much more devastating than many folks realize.

The ranch in Pandale where I spent summers and roundup during shearing, built fences, repaired stays, rescued orphaned kids wound up in catclaw and chased wild billies horseback for the past 35 years, had a lightning-ignited fire earlier this year.

That fire burned up its fair share of sotol, cedars, mesquites, prickly pear – but never enough dog pear, dangit.

It also burned fences between pastures, some nice oaks that provided shade in the brutal summers for the goats and horses, destroyed some 100-year-old wooden troughs that their great granddad had built that were  still being used, ruined several hundred yards of water lines and destroyed the natural cover for the deer.

Hunting is a valuable commodity in this part of Texas and upon which many ranchers depend for their livelihood these days in lieu of once-profitable livestock.

And if there are livestock who cannot outrun a fire and are cornered by fences in a pasture, then animals can be lost, too.

Replacing/repairing fence-lines, especially when posts have to cross solid rock in some of the most rugged parts of these ranches, is not only expensive but requires a major undertaking to access.

We see the smoke over the hill or on the distant horizon but it can be burning much more than what appears only to be grass and brush.

So when our volunteer firefighters answer the call –whether here in town or out in the countryside – I encourage my neighbors and friends here to thank them for their service and sacrifice to us all and consider how fortunate we are to have the brave, unselfish men and women who give of their time and personal safety to protect and save our property and lives.

Terry Tex Toler

Sanderson