Letters to the editor

Editor,

Congratulations are due to the San Mateo Police Department for their professionalism, preparedness and quick response to the sad event at Hillsdale High School Monday ("Tragedy averted” in the Aug. 25 edition of the Daily Journal). Chief Susan Manheimer and all of the officers who responded to the call deserve the thanks and appreciation of the entire city of San Mateo. Hillsdale High School staff must also be recognized for managing the potential tragedy with well-planned actions in the face of danger.

Tom Elliott

San Mateo

Health care for old cars?

Editor,

I watched, on YouTube, a perfectly good car under the "Cash for Clunkers” program have its oil replaced with Sodium Silicate (made from lye and sand).

The engine was run until it stopped with smoke coming out. That engine will never run again. The car was intentionally destroyed. It almost brought tears to my eyes as I thought of the car that I worked so hard to get as a teenager. Maybe that was the car that could have been driven by someone who can’t afford a car and must get up before dawn and walk to work. Well, they are never going to drive that one.

The government that dreamed up this stupid program and is now over $10 trillion in debt is the same government that wants to take care of my health care in my old age?

Robert Parkhurst

Redwood City

Facts not histrionics

Editor,

I am disappointed with your story "Speier pushes for health care reform” in the Aug. 24 Daily Journal about U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier’s Montara town hall meeting. It captures none of the information Speier provided to the audience, has some factual inaccuracies and leaves the reader with the impression the event was for show only — definitely not the case. Given the emotional churn around health care and health insurance reform, we need accurate, specific information from our media outlets — not what amounts to a movie review (who heckled who, quotes from people voicing opposition only, etc.).

I stayed through to the end of the event. A wide range of questions were asked, including intelligent inquiries about what is in the bill and what is not. This is what I learned.

• The proposed House bill would prohibit health insurance companies from refusing to issue policies based on pre-existing conditions and prohibit insurance companies from dropping someone right after they became ill.

• The proposed House bill specifically prohibits non-citizens from government supported health insurance but the 20-year old Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act requires hospitals and ambulance services to provide emergency care to anyone regardless of citizenship, legal status or ability to pay.

• Speier debunked the "death panels” rumor and noted the proposed bill would reimburse Medicare patients who consult doctors about end-of-life medical care.

• Speier indicated that the current "public option” in the bill focuses on the establishment of insurance exchanges that would provide some form of federally subsidized insurance plan for those earning less than $40,000 per family, as well as those who lose their jobs and employer-provided insurance, self-employed individuals and small businesses who can’t find affordable health insurance. She made it clear no one with employer-provided insurance would be affected, nor would they be eligible for the so-called "public option.”

What readers need is meeting coverage that highlights what the public wants and needs to know about the current health care proposals — not the emotional histrionics of a few or the opinion of one man that the event was "staged.” Speier and her aides did a very good job keeping the tone of the event civil even when presented with antagonistic questions, such as "have you even read the bill?” Newspapers could offer the same — facts and a civil discourse.

Mary Petrosky

San Mateo

Reader beware

Editor,

I am writing about the Associated Press article by Liz Sidoti "Polite skepticism at Obama forum” in the Aug. 15 edition of the Daily Journal.

It is very important for our hot-headed fellow Americans to hear what is being said and make educated decisions and comments when it comes to hot topics such as health care reform ... especially when having the president’s ear at a town hall meeting. Even more so, it is important to listen and not hear explicitly what you want to hear and reinterpret it to meld perfectly with your own wishes and hopes and then proclaim victory to the national news media. I am commenting on the "polite” yet erroneous skepticism at an Obama forum in Montana and the comment made by an eager Mr. Randie Rathie. He stated that [Obama] has "… given me his word, personally, that he’s not going to raise my taxes.” This statement was made in response to an answer to Mr. Rathie’s question directed to Obama about how to spread health care coverage without raising taxes. Obama answered honestly and admirably: "I can’t cover another 46 million people for free. I can’t do that. We’re going to have to find money from somewhere.”

To me and hopefully most of your readers it is a statement made by Obama meaning that he will have to raise taxes to yield results.

Maybe if Americans would take the time to listen carefully, make educated decisions and statements, assessing their feelings we wouldn’t have such hostile showdowns at town hall meetings across the United States. I can’t imagine how Mr. Rathie thought Obama made him a personal promise not to raise taxes when that is precisely what he did. America, be realistic! Do you want health care for everyone if it taxes family income of over $250,000 a year, or not? That is the question. Now spare us your answer and opinion if it is just going to spread more baloney about what the president said and means. Do not read between the lines. I find it discouraging that a question-answer session with the president could be misconstrued and create for more panic amongst Americans when false comments are spread in the news, furthering the distance of an attainable resolution in health care reform. Reader beware, this article is not to be taken out of context.

Thomas Brenner

Mountain View