4 A
❘
SATURDAY EDITION
❘ OCTOBER 21, 2017
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
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L ETTERS
LETTERS
C ONTROL HEALTHCARE COST ,
A DJUST WE MUST TO SAVE
T AX REFORM PROPOSAL
NOT COVERAGE
Rhetoric continues to fly in the debate
over healthcare costs and coverages.
Sadly, it is political ideology driving that
debate rather than honest consideration
of the problem, thus leading to a reason-
able solution.
Toward the latter methodology, con-
sider some facts.
First, the price of health insurance is
not the same as the cost of healthcare.
The cost of insurance merely follows the
cost of the service it covers.
Figures from the Kaiser Family
Foundation indicate that over the past 10
years, overall cost of health insurance
premiums has risen some 86 percent.
PwC (previously Pricewaterhouse
Coopers) charts the increase in health-
care services over the same period to be
84.5 percent. Now consider that over the
past 10 years the Federal Government
sets the increase in the Consumer Price
Index at 20 percent.
Based on these numbers, I have to
conclude that unless we find a way to
control the outrageous increases in the
cost of the underlying service, there is
nothing that can be done to reduce the
cost of insuring for that service. We can
pay one way or we can pay the other but,
rest assured, we are going to pay.
We can, under the Affordable Care
Act, pay for our care through private
insurance companies, supporting their
double-digit overhead costs, while also
paying the increased taxes necessary to
subsidize those same insurance compa-
nies in order to allow them to insure a
great many people at a cost less than that
of the services rendered; Or, we could
revert to the previous model, where the
costs for care and coverage are carefully
coordinated between the insurers and
providers, resulting in the steady and
heavy increases in those costs that long
predate passage of the ACA.
Or, we could adopt a single-payer sys-
tem (sound of minds slamming shut)
where one buyer can directly control
costs — as with Medicare.
While I have grave reservations about
the steadily increasing expansion of gov-
ernment control into all aspects of our
lives, here is one area where something
has to be done to establish control — and
the reality is only the federal government
has the power to pull it off.
But fear not, my conservative friends.
There is absolutely no danger of this
coming to pass. For it would depend on a
congress, president and a large portion of
the American electorate being willing to
pull their heads out of…
Well, enough said.
— Jimmie Zinn
OUR PLANET
Most climate scientists believe the
temperature of our earth and oceans are
rising. Warming oceans can cause more
severe storms, such as the recent record-
breaking number of devastating hurri-
canes.
Climate change contributes to the
continued drought in Africa; a five-year
prolonged drought in California; the dis-
appearance of islands in equatorial
regions due to rising oceans; and the suf-
fering of Alaskan native people due to
melting ice and beach erosion.
Climate change also produces more
worldwide conflict as people struggle to
survive.
The Earth is finite.
We cannot continue to exploit it to no
end. We must embrace alternative ener-
gy and reduce our reliance om fossil
fuels.
For instance, the Tesla Company has
proposed it could outfit the entire island
of Puerto Rico with solar panels to make
that island totally self-reliant energy-
wise.
Whether you believe climate change
is man-made or not, the fact is that the
Earth is warming.
As the intelligent species and
advanced country we think we are, we
have a responsibility to protect bio-
diversity and create a more sustainable
future for our children and grandchil-
dren.
Adjust we must.
— Julie MacFarlane
Florence
GREAT NEWS FOR WEALTHY
The Trump administration’s tax
reform proposal is designed to keep the
middle and lower class under severe
austerity while enriching the wealthiest
one percent. The plan is a tax cut for the
wealthy by an average of $40,000 a
year. It proposes cutting corporate
taxes almost in half (from 39.6 percent
to 20 percent) and cutting overseas
taxes on profits to zero. Many big cor-
porations, using all the loopholes avail-
able to them, already pay little to no
taxes. The president’s claim that
America has the highest tax rate of any
developed countries is simply not true.
The plan would eliminate the estate
tax (also called the death tax), a huge
benefit to millionaires’ heirs.
This would benefit Trump’s heirs (his
already wealthy children), the Walton
family (Walmart) heirs, most of the
Cabinet Secretaries’ heirs and other mil-
lionaire and billionaire heirs. The aver-
age middle class family will gain noth-
ing while the wealthiest one percent
continue to hoard money.
The plan also proposes an increase in
the standard deduction. However, by
taking this new, higher deduction, you
will no longer be able to itemize your
other deductions.
In most cases, by using the higher
standard deduction, a middle class fam-
ily will see a tax increase. This propos-
al will actually raise the tax rate on
those making $9,000 a year or less, with
their rate going from 10 to 12 percent.
The House of Representatives and
the Senate just passed a budget
Thursday which includes $473 billion
in cuts from Medicare over 10 years,
and more than $1 trillion from
Medicaid.
It also reduces Social Security over
the next 10 years. The president has
praised the plan, even after he promised
voters he would not touch Medicare.
And now, not even a full year into
office, he and the Republican-con-
trolled Congress are getting ready to do
just that.
The president seems to have already
forgotten the “forgotten men and
women” of America who voted for him.
Sadly, this tax reform proposal and this
budget will actually hurt the very peo-
ple who voted for him.
— Marybeth Marenco
Florence
Florence
W ON ’ T FUND POOR OCHS
BOARD DECISIONS
In 2006, my wife and I picked up a
new puppy from the Florence Humane
Society Shelter (now Oregon Coast
Humane Society). We had been looking
at several shelters and were most
impressed with the cleanliness and care
at the Florence shelter.
When our beloved dog died last
December, we donated dog food and
money. Perhaps more importantly, we
memorialized him by putting a very
large bequest to the OCHS in our will.
Now, we are disgusted and saddened
with actions by its current Board of
Directors and its treatment of valued
volunteers.
Today, my wife and I just returned
from our attorney’s office, where we had
the bequest removed from our will.
We are sorry it came to this, but until
there is a change, we at least know it
cannot make poor decisions backed by
our funds.
— Mark Wolfe
Florence (and Corvallis)
TO THE
P OLICY
E DITOR
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editor.
P OLITICAL /E LECTION L ETTERS :
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As with all letters and advertising content, the
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Send letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-
228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
( 4 th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
( Dist. 5 )
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
state.or.us
State Rep. Caddy
McKeown
( Dist. 9 )
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us