The American Spectator

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Religious Differences

1.30.03 @ 12:01AM

FRESNO STATE'S HOT DATE
Re: Bill Croke's Eco-Terrorist Academic Chic:

Thanks for putting this out there. We at the local Clovis Chamber of Commerce have been sounding the clarion call about this terrible seminar. Plus, it's being held at the same time as the World Ag Expo in Tulare (one hour away), which is the largest gathering of agricultural people in the world. Talk about laying out the candy store for these terrorists.

I've e-mailed O'Reilly, Savage, Hannity, Fox News and Rush but haven't heard anything. Any suggestions???
-- Fran Blackney

Hope the FBI or BATF can make it to the seminar. Keep the faith. Man is sovereign over all species, plant and animal.
-- Mike Sereda

MSA'S IN THE USA
Re: Lawrence Henry's The Health Care Conundrum:

Regarding "The Health Care Conundrum," there is a place for insurance: to cover catastrophic illnesses/events. The real alternative to a nationalized system to ration health care is a mix of medical savings accounts (MSAs) and major medical insurance.

Instead of paying insurance companies or managed care outfits to act as a broker between consumers and health care providers, employers (or individuals) should fund accounts that could be used for pay-as-you-go, fee-for-service treatment. Under the current system, those with employer-provided insurance or HMOs look at what they can get out of the entitlement and don't care about costs; they regard the care as free because it's already paid for.

Looking at a system of MSAs, we could figure out a reasonable way to fund partially such accounts and major medical for the poor and unemployed, making sure that the rate is low so that there are no incentives to remain poor or unemployed.

At the major medical level, insurance companies and regulators could engineer a book that makes sense for regular folks as well as those suffering life-long debilitating diseases or illnesses that are genetic in origin.

One overlooked reason for skyrocketing medical costs is that people are buying more health care. More folks are getting more diagnostic and corrective procedures -- colonoscopies, body scans, laser eye surgeries, knee/elbow tune-ups, replacement hips -- whether traditional insurance covers them or not. Heck, I know one large family where the successful siblings decided to chip in and get their dad a new set of knees -- he was a retired bricklayer who was getting along okay, but the kids wanted to do something special to improve his quality of life. I'm waiting for the radio ad for the combo body scan / laser eye surgery / colonoscopy while you're waiting for your car repair.
-- Mike Cakora
Columbia, SC

Lawrence Henry replies:
True, true, I say, 'tis true. However, MSAs do not answer the essential conundrum I wrote about: How do you continue to insure -- lay odds on -- something which non-discrimination laws prohibit you from underwriting accurately? Mr. Cakora's admirable proposals still do not answer that.

DEAD CATTLE
Re: Wlady Pleszczynski's Bush in Command:

Here in Texas, there used to an old story about a winter in the 1800s so cold that you could walk from Abilene, Texas, to Abilene, Kansas on the backs of frozen dead cattle and never touch the ground. You can almost do the same thing today, only its from Texas to Washington, D.C., and now its on the backs of members of the Left who have underestimated George W. Bush.
-- Mike Webster
Dallas, TX

Perhaps Pe-tah is trying to grab the sour-puss anchor award from Dan Rather. Are the Big 3 switching strategies and having a race to the bottom of the ratings? Matters not to me -- they all stink -- but I commend Mr. Pleszczynski for being able to stomach any one of them, Rather, Jennings or Brokaw for an entire program. I'm not up to it anymore.
-- Roger Ross
Tomahawk, WI

I simply don't understand the Democrats' strategery. How can treason and obstructionism advance their interests?

Letter to the Editor

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