Find true reform for health care

I think some terrorists must have put something in the water in Washington, D.C., because the politicians seem to be bordering on absolute lunacy.

The original idea of health insurance was that by creating a large enough pool of people, the cost of catastrophic health problems could be mitigated for families and individuals. Now, because the politicians sold us out to the medical associations, the pharmaceutical companies and the health insurance companies, they are coming up with insane health care “;reform”; plans.

We need to remove the profit motive from health care because it is a conflict of interest that cannot be reconciled. We need to have a centrally operated public health care system. Such a system can provide a floor of coverage. Companies can provide additional coverage to people who want and can afford more.

I am disappointed in President Barack Obama. I know he is intelligent. But is he confident enough to show real leadership? He might be our last, best hope. I hope he can handle the historic responsibility.

Jonathan Cole
Honokaa

Film office cuts are not political

I am writing to strongly object to the shameful attempt by your editorial, “;Don't cut lucrative film office”; (Star-Bulletin, Sept. 7), to politicize and impugn the integrity of the very difficult decisions on state layoffs.

Until your editorial reported it, I was totally unaware of any contribution made by any state employee to any political campaign, local, state or national. The decisions relating to DBEDT employee layoffs, including at the state film office, were made based solely on how the department could continue to meet its mission and responsibilities with fewer employees.

I challenge your newspaper to come forth with any evidence or even scant information that any political factor was considered in these decisions.

Theodore “;Ted”; E. Liu
Director, state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism

Let's start over to fix health care

After listening to President Barack Obama on Wednesday night, I am now totally committed to the fact that we cannot afford any of the proposed changes to our medical program as currently constituted.

It is patently obvious to me that under these programs Americans will pay more, lots more, for less service. There are too many things wrong with this program to fix it. Let's scrub this effort and start over to fix the current system.

Jerry Bangerter
Kailua

Likely outcome is compromise

If health care reform were a high-stakes political card game, President Barack Obama would be sitting at the Capitol Hill poker table holding a pair of twos. But with stacks of political chips on the table, congressional Democrats and congressional Republicans also have a lot to win—or lose—as the acrimonious summerlong debate over health care nears its final hand. Congress returned from its August recess to a dramatically changed political landscape. Obama's job-approval ratings are dipping and are nearing the uncomfortable 50 percent mark. Support for Democratic health reform efforts has dropped, too, after a summer of contentious town hall meetings and sustained Republican attacks.

So how will things play out in coming weeks? The most likely scenario is a scaled-back compromise winning passage. It's the way things work in Washington. Things often look darkest before dawn. In this scenario, the White House would forge ahead to see a showdown vote, only to lose because of either liberal or conservative defectors. At that point, the fear of failure would prompt Democratic dissidents to compromise.

Andrew Prieditis
Honolulu