Ogden Valley Utah Forum

We almost overlooked this masterpiece by none other than Larry Zini. It appeared in Sundays Standard Examiner, but we will post the letter below in its entirety.

In reading Mr. Stewart's rant on health care, one has to wonder where he has been living for the last 50 years. While some of the misconceptions surrounding the current health care proposal he noted are correct, the salient problem he ignored is the fact that our Federal Government is not good at doing anything except spending taxpayer's money without effective oversight or controls.

If Americans would examine ANY government administered effort, they would be appalled at the millions of dollars lost every year to fraud, waste, and lack of oversight. Even military spending is rife with earmarks and congressional spending waste. That is why your government will spend $50 for a hammer when they could go to Home Depot and get it for about $19.

It was suggested that Republicans are the only ones questioning the cost of this health care program from the Obama administration. Many concerned Americans from every part of the political landscape are questioning the trillion plus dollars this program will cost. It should be apparent to all that with the bullet proof Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, it is not the Republicans that are causing the pause and reflection, it is the president's own party members.

We should ask why we have had noTort reform to lower the cost of medical insurance for those who work in the healthcare industry. That alone would significantly slash the cost of medical care for everyone in this country.

Mr. Stewart also appears to assume that the money grabbers in the health and insurance industries will suddenly disappear with any new government health care system. The lobbyists from these industries are now spending millions of dollars a day to influence our representatives in Congress on the current pending health care legislation.

The members of the US Congress will be exempt from any new health care program, just as they are exempt from the Social Security program. Congress doesn't mind dictating what is good for you in a mandated government program as long as they don't have to participate!

Larry Zini
Huntsville