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Freedom Lost, Part IV Ready or not, here it comes! Our illustrious Imperial Congress, in all its wisdom (?) is getting ready to enact a partisan health plan. It, and our Piñata President, are bound and determined to cram their vision of National Health Care (an oxymoron if there ever was one) upon us, even though a majority of the citizens are opposed to such legislation. Polls show that a large majority of the population is satisfied with the health care system as it is and, instead of trying to make what is already pretty good better, our elected officials are going to scrap it for a vast government system which will have bureaucrats ultimately controlling who lives and dies (tax dollar funded abortions and limited treatment options for the elderly) all in the name of affordable health care. The administration is backing and filling as it goes along, seeking what they think that a gullible electorate will support. We know already what a great job government does in administering social programs. Just look at how fiscally sound Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are. Then take a peek at the quality of health care given to our Veterans, those to whom we really owe our allegiance. Tell me people, just what do you have to see before you realize that you are being set up. Isn’t the fallout of all the slick presentations of our Piñata-in-Chief enough to convince you that you have been hoodwinked? You know, he did tell us that he was going to “spread the wealth” and that he was going to “transform America.” We knew, but we just didn’t believe the evidence. Believe it now. The town hall meetings (and don’t tell me that some nasty groups are orchestrating them - the people are P.O.’d) are sending a clear message. The White House is trying to convince you that it is a “Mob” determined to derail this wonderful social program. Well, people, you know that you are not a mob. You know that there is something very rotten about what is going on and you are not about to stand idly by while the Administration accretes to itself the power which is rightfully the prerogative of the people. This is about a lot more than health care. If you are asleep, it is now time to wake up. Should you choose not to, complain not when you are assigned a “worth value” in your twilight years by some faceless bureaucrat rationing health care. So that I am not considered merely an “agin’er,” know that I am not opposed to health care for all. The free market system can, and always will, do a better job than government, not that I am impressed with some facets of the current system. Health care already takes 16% of our GDP. That amounts to about $7,000 per person. I think that we should look at taxpayer funded Individual Health Care Accounts for all in lieu of what is being crammed down our throat. Have the government fund a HCA for each AMERICAN, beginning at birth at the rate of, let’s say $6,000/yr. Individuals may then accrue the benefits or purchase insurance policies. They can pool their accounts if they wish or borrow or lend benefits to family or friends. Anything that allows freedom of choice and keeps government out of our lives. The role of government should be to protect the citizens from unethical companies, that’s all. We can work out the details without some politician slewing the benefits for their inevitable political gain. Sincerely, Joe McCann, Elk Lake, PA The Flu War “Help! Help! The sky is falling,” cried Chicken Little. If the frantic fowl were alive today, he would with equal hysteria be warning, Help! Help! The swine flu is coming. To a point, the bird would be right. The swine flu is indeed sweeping over the world. The World Health Organization reported that the number of swine flu deaths passed 1,000 this month. Heavens, the deaths are in the thousands. But compared to the 60 million who die annually, the chance of dying from - not after - the swine flu is desperately small. True, but the odds of expiring from the swine flu are greater than being killed by a meteorite coming to an abrupt stop on your head. A small but real danger. Fortunately, the government is in the fight to save us from the infectious invader. It's the swine flu war. (What's one more war?) About $8 billion has been allocated to this do-or-die fight. This war will take its place alongside the gov's other social wars: the war on poverty, the war on drugs, and the war on cancer. Hopefully, this war will break the gov's losing streak. In the front lines will be that old standby, Tamiflu, a drug brought to you by Donald Rumsfeld. You remember Rumsfeld, the guiding light who engineered the legalization of that suspect sweetener aspartame and who masterminded the discredited strategy of shock and awe in Iraq. The miracle drug Tamiflu can shorten the duration of the flu - shorten it by one day. That's right, one day. Of course there are the run-of-the-mill side effects: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and insomnia. Then there are the less publicized side effects: anemia, delirium leading to death, epidermal necrolysis, liver failure, and acute myocardial infraction. And if you're one of the 4 million Americans taking a blood thinner, the interaction with Tamiflu puts you at serious risk of having a stroke. Lawsuits totaling $1.5 billion have been filed by victims paralyzed by this miracle drug. But Big Pharma needn't worry this year. The gov has granted it immunity from law suits. Nice. Want to try something safer? Big Pharma has developed a nasal flu vaccine. All one does is spray FluMist into each nostril. Problem is, the side effects are nearly identical to those the nasal spray is designed to prevent. What about a dermal vaccination? The decision to take a flu shot should not be taken lightly. According to Dr. Hugh Fudenburg, the world's leading immunologist, “If an individual has had 5 consecutive flu shots... their chances of getting Alzheimer's disease is 10 times greater.” What number are you up to? The symptoms of swine flu are indistinguishable from other flues except for one surprising fact: it's milder. Pandemic does not mean deadly. It refers to the area over which an infectious disease is spreading not to its severity. One could live through a pandemic and not even be aware of it. Think not? If you're older than 52, you have lived through two pandemics, the Asian Flu in 1957 and the Hong Kong Flu in 1968. Mankind has coexisted with the flu, swine and otherwise, for millennia. Excepting those with seriously impaired or underdeveloped immune systems, the very old, and those with preexisting disease conditions, it is seldom fatal. In fact, the odds of being killed by a lightning strike are 24 times greater than succumbing to the swine flu. However, if one does become infected, it will run its unpleasant course. Given time and rest, one's health will be restored. The real danger is not the swine flu virus; it is the fear flu virus and its consequences. Sincerely, Bob Scroggins New Milford, PA LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR POLICY Thank you, Susquehanna County Transcript
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