Covert health care rationing

I have had it with Republican talking points about the health care bill, particularly with the scare tactic about rationing. To say that this is intellectually dishonest is an understatement. We already have rationing under our current mish-mash of a system. It amounts to covert rationing in two ways.

The first is simply those who are unable to afford health insurance. Thousands of families self-ration rather than get the health care they deserve just in case one of the kids needs to go to the doctor. They work hard every day to care for their families, but they just can’t afford the plans their employers provide — if they provide one at all.

The second is called for-profit health insurance. Thousands of claims are denied and policies canceled every year to boost the bottom lines of these corporations. Many times, their auditors receive bonuses for denying claims or rescinding policies.

Don’t pretend that there is no rationing of health care in these times. It’s happening — and people are dying because of it — every day.

John Pickett,

Denton

Legal advice

“Judge: Terrorist can sue lawyer over memos” (June 14 DRC, Page 8A). Judges normally dismiss suits against lawyers, but this case could be different; Jose Padilla’s judge refused a request to dismiss, so the case can proceed.

I don’t have all the facts, but I think Justice Department lawyer John Yoo, surely on instructions from above, produced a legal opinion that was one-sided and gave the impression that torture, etc., was OK, and some underlings and higher-ups then relied on it.

One way to not get sued is to write in things like the Geneva Conventions and all the other laws that bear on the subject, declare that a novel interpretation was being contemplated that was sure to be legally and politically controversial, and leave the decision up to the reader. The John Yoo documents are fine inside the courtroom arguing a case to a judge, but abusive outside.

Another way to not get sued is to have your legal advice never become public; Denton operates this way, even though we citizens pay for the advice the council receives in secret session.

Officials of the Bush administration probably are wary of going abroad, where they could be arrested and tried. I don’t know about Denton’s!

Ross Melton Jr.,

Denton