Helping the sick is the right thing to do

I am writing in support of President Obama’s national health care proposals.

Yes, I am well aware that there are many citizens, particularly in Idaho, who are more than just a little opposed to the president’s solutions to health care for all. Ours is a big country and one with varying viewpoints. Know, however, that opposing views to solutions for complex and polarizing issues does not cost you one whit of affection or respect from me, and it is my hope that you will find it in your heart to respond in kind. In a democracy, it is the majority that decides issues.

With this in mind, I ask those citizens who already have an opinion on the issue of national health care to please pardon this intrusion, and to contact our public servants, congressmen and senators, with a clear message as to what you want done. I would much prefer this issue be settled by we the people than by the lobbyists. The lobbyists, of course, will attempt to purchase a health program from our elected representatives that will satisfy the needs of their commercial clients at the expense of the rest of us.

As I have made clear, I am a proponent of a national health program that includes a government option. This because I have no confidence that the same private sector interests that brought us to where we are today will miraculously undergo a transformational change and reform the system they corrupted in the first place. The insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, avaricious hospitals and doctors, and the tort claim trial lawyers all deserve our scorn and outrage. At the present, I believe the odds are 50-50 to whether the president’s program will be voted in or voted out. And if it once again fails to pass, decades will come and go before we the people will have another chance to right a grievous wrong. Helping the sick is not socialism. Ignoring the sick is full-blown egoism. For this reason, I urge you to educate yourself on this issue. And when you have decided which way you want your elected representatives to vote, let them have your wishes with both barrels.

ROBERT H. WRIGHT

Sandpoint