Beware of the board

On a recent trip to the Denton Central Appraisal District for my review board hearing, I was shocked the process was not taken seriously by certain members of the board.

After my standard two-hour wait, I was taken to a room where another protester was presenting his case in front of three male board members.

When it went long, I was asked to move to the other room where I was greeted by three female board members.

The first comment was, “Now we can beat the boys.” She was keeping score as to how many reviews she had done that day. Mine took all but 10 minutes, including introductions.

Evidently there is a game the board members play to see who can do the most reviews. The girls won that day, and another day that week. At 10 minutes a pop, I’m sure they will win again.

If given the option, request the male members of the board; they seem to actually take their job seriously.

My option now: pay $500 to go to an arbitrator. I guess $500 is the buy-in for a fair hearing.

Gary Calmes,

Denton

Word play

I once took a college history course called “Europe Between the World Wars.” Not surprisingly, much of the subject matter was about Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

The other day, I got out my textbook from that course and re-read some of Hitler’s speeches and writings, including excerpts from his book, Mein Kampf.

I noticed that if I substituted the word, “liberals,” every place that Hitler used the words “Jews” and “communists” the results were chillingly similar to the rantings of Rush Limbaugh and his spawn on Fox News and talk radio who get rich and famous by exploiting the fear and ignorance of their listeners using the same methods that preachers use.

That’s disturbing, because Limbaugh is now the de facto leader of the Republican Party.

What has this country come to when a pompous drug addict like Limbaugh can become the voice of a major political party?

Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower must be spinning in their graves.

It’s time for decent, honorable Republicans to take back control of their party from the right-wing fools who have led it astray.

Bob Chaney,

Denton

Less care, more cost

Government universal health care will produce less care at greater cost for most people.

Government health care will cost more because of the vast bureaucracy required for administration. Armies of overseers and auditors on the federal payroll at taxpayer expense will be needed to run such a gigantic enterprise.

Some people will seek medical care for the slightest ailments because it’s free. This is happening already with some government-run programs.

Some patients, especially the elderly, disabled and handicapped, will be deemed not cost-effective. Medical treatment will be delayed, with patients dying while they wait. This is rationing.

Not that the current system is perfect; far from it. However, it remains the best in the world.

Government has a history of making things worse, not better. Note the current economic meltdown caused (or at least allowed) by poor government oversight of the financial system.

Why would government do any better with health care?

One of my aunts was born with a heart condition. My grandparents contacted government agencies to request help with the financial burden. They were informed that help was only for salvageable cases.

Are you sure that when the time comes, you, or your loved one, will be a salvageable case?

I am not.

Keep government out of health care.

Alex Croy,

Denton

Liberal logic

In Mr. Garner’s letter (Letters, June 25), he insinuated that waterboarding was torture and that he was against it.

Now, let me try to understand liberal logic.

If Mr. Garner is against waterboarding because he considers it torture, then he probably would not want it used on accused terrorists. But he is offering to waterboard — in public — Roger Horrell, a patriotic American and a decorated Vietnam veteran.

Torture a U.S. veteran? OK. Torture a terrorist? Not OK.

Also, the terrorists are a lot younger than a Vietnam veteran, which would allow them to resist more than an older person.

The U.S. military now employs the use of waterboarding during survival training to prepare them psychologically for capture by the enemy.

When Capt. Horrell and I attended survival training back in the 1960s, waterboarding was not being used, but we were subjected to numerous types of torture to prepare us for our duty in Southeast Asia. It was not fun, but it showed us possible scenarios of what would be in store should we be captured.

The men captured actually faced much worse tortures than any of us imagined, or what the terrorists face today.

Chuck Roedema,

Denton

Misconception

There seems to be a misconception that having health insurance means better health care.

Insurance was designed to spread the cost of a catastrophic situation among the participants in the insurance plan. The role of the insurance company was to collect the premiums then pay out to the providers on behalf of the participants.

It was never intended for the insurance company to actually pay the bills. It was never intended to pay for routine office visits and such. That’s why it used to be called major medical.

Everyone in the great state of Texas has access to health care. If you have a runny nose, you can be treated and would be expected to pay what you can afford based on your income. You simply walk into the nearest emergency room and ask for treatment.

It is against the law for anyone to be denied treatment based on the lack of insurance or the ability to pay.

Yes, you will have to wait. No, you will not be able to see the doctor of your choice. But that is the price to be paid if you rely on the state of Texas (taxpayers) to pay for your health care.

If Uncle Sam gets involved do you really think it will be better? Name one thing the government has done more efficiently and more cost effective than the free market.

Look at the prescription drug program Bush signed into law for the elderly. I challenge any 30-year-old to make sense of it, much less an 80-year-old.

Steve Sullivan,

Denton