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Wednesday, April 12, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Editorial…
Trump did the right thing
President Trump did the right thing in strik-
ing an airbase in Syria in response to the Assad
regime’s chemical weapons attack on its own
civilian population in Idlib Province.
President Obama should have rained tom-
ahawks down on the Assad regime’s assets
when Assad flagrantly crossed the president’s
firmly-stated “red line” in a far worse Sarin
attack in 2013. We must keep the use of chem-
ical weapons stuffed in the verboten box, oth-
erwise it will become normalized in that labo-
ratory of hell once known as Syria, and we’ll
see more use there and elsewhere.
Barrel bombs, starvation and exile are hor-
rible in themselves for the beleaguered Syrian
population, caught between a brutal regime on
one hand and murderous Islamic fundamen-
talist nihilists on the other. But chemical and
biological weapons have, since World War I,
been rightly regarded as a special category
of horror. The world cannot afford to become
desensitized to their deployment.
It seems doubtful that the strike is tied to a
coherent Syria policy (to the extent that such a
thing is possible). The musings of Eric Trump
to a British newspaper indicate that it was in
part influenced by Trump’s daughter Ivanka
being upset at the horrible images of hid-
eously dying Syrian children. And surely there
was some political calculation that a military
strike would take some pressure off a floun-
dering administration and boost approval rat-
ings, as flexing muscle always does. It can’t
hurt Trump right now to be seen in opposition
to Putin’s aims and desires.
It is pointless to address the rank hypocrisy
of Republicans who did everything they could
to prevent Obama from acting in 2013, now
praising Trump’s strength and decisiveness.
Rank hypocrisy is, after all, the coin of the
realm in the Imperial City.
We can kick at the gigantic expense of the
“message” Trump sent and question the effec-
tiveness of the strike itself, which appears to
be less bang than you might expect for $83
million, but ultimately, and regardless of any
other calculus, it is a good thing — a neces-
sary thing — to put consequences on the use
of chemical weapons.
Jim Cornelius, News Editor
Sisters Weather Forecast
Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon
Wednesday
Thtrsday
Friday
Sattrday
Stnday
Monday
Rain likely
Showers likely
Chance snow/rain
Mostly Sunny
Slt. Chance Showers Chance Showers
49/31
47/28
45/24
52/29
52/30
53/na
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N
A better idea for
insuring health
By Patla Strmann
Guest Columnist
A great idea is float-
ing around Central
Oregon: Why not join with
California and Washington
in a West Coast universal
healthcare system? It’s time
for healthcare to be treated
as a human right, not a lux-
ury. After all, we aren’t liv-
ing in a Third World coun-
try but in the greatest nation
on earth.
All of us would receive
services that fight the big-
gest causes of disease and
death. Universal healthcare
also protects us from the
bankruptcy and poverty that
can result from huge medi-
cal bills. We currently risk
using up our life savings,
selling our homes, or bor-
rowing money. Our futures
are destroyed, and maybe
our children’s futures, too.
How could our states
afford to pay for this? We’d
pay our premiums to an
agency running our West
Coast plan. It would cost
each of us less because we
wouldn’t be compensating
a CEO or stockholders. We
would negotiate drug prices
and medical services with
the power of three states and
millions of people. Even if
we ended up paying more
taxes, it would cost us less
overall. I’m 64 and paying
$860 monthly for insurance
that doesn’t even cover an
eye exam.
In other countries, uni-
versal healthcare systems
— also called single-payer
plans — cost less per person
and take a smaller portion
of the nation’s assets while
covering all their citizens.
People who can afford it
may still go to a private doc-
tor. In the U.S., we lead the
world in healthcare innova-
tion and practice, but rank
36th in average lifespan.
Government agencies
pay employees a good wage,
but not the millions insur-
ance companies pay their
CEOS. Who else would
lose something? Lobbyists,
lawyers, stockholders, drug
and medical equipment
companies, some hospitals
and doctors. Wouldn’t lower
pay discourage people from
entering the medical field?
Some people want a career
in medicine because of the
high salaries; but most want
an interesting career, to help
suffering people, and make
a good wage. Wouldn’t
less competition stifle
medical innovation? Again,
most people enter medical
research because the work
is interesting, helps suffer-
ing people, and pays well.
It’s the corporate brass and
large stockholders who
make the big bucks.
We’ve all heard about
the long waiting times that
people in other countries
experience under univer-
sal healthcare. But at least
all of us would be covered,
with no one left behind to
suffer. Plus, we are capable
of solving the problems that
other countries experience.
We can take the best ideas
from other nations, let our
brightest people create an
American healthcare plan,
and enjoy the results. In
fact, America has already
implemented a single-payer,
universal healthcare plan
— MEDICARE.
Starting in 1912, 33
countries have converted
to universal healthcare. Are
millions of people wrong,
or is it time for healthcare
to be treated as a human
right, not a luxury, even in
the U.S.?
One huge advantage to
having a universal health-
care system is that people
who have always wanted to
start their own businesses
would feel free to try.
Currently, many of us are
afraid to leave an employer
who covers even part of our
healthcare costs because
prices are unbelievably
high. People with children
are even more terrified of
quitting a job. Who would
have thought that univer-
sal healthcare would foster
capitalism?
Another advantage is
that we would all feel more
secure about our health.
People who feel more
secure are happier, health-
ier, more productive, bet-
ter parents and coworkers,
more capable of handling
emergencies, etc. Our health
is basic; everything else in
life builds upon a healthy
body and mind.
If you’d like to work
on great ideas like this,
please join Indivisible
Sisters Oregon at https://
w w w. m e e t u p . c o m /
Indivisible-Sisters-Oregon/.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.