Anchorage Daily News

Murkowski taps health care

Regarding her commentary June 19, "Health care bill unworkable, unaffordable": if Sen. Lisa Murkowski is against public health care for her constituents, why does she use it for herself and her family?

-- Rita Hatch

Anchorage

Medicare has saved lives

I spied U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's review of the administration's proposed health care bill in Friday's paper, and find my blood pressure has just shot up a bit. She refers to Medicare as a failure -- although many millions of folks over the age of 65 who receive medical care through the program would probably be dead by now without it. Failure? I think not, unless we judge failure by saving people's lives.

I would suggest to Sen. Murkowski that the fairest solution to this medical care problem would be to extend to all citizens the exact same medical benefits that she enjoys as a United States senator. (As her employer, we pay for those benefits.)

Zowee! We would go broke then.

-- Elaine B. Williamson

Anchorage

Religion could enslave us

It is appalling to me that any group of people need to battle for basic rights against another group of people based upon their religious "morality." This country was founded by people who left England to free themselves from religious persecution and the state-established Church of England, to found a nation free of religious persecution. Yet the Anchorage Assembly is willing to appease a group based upon their religious beliefs and allow continued discrimination.

Does this not blatantly allow persecution based upon religion? This is not only happening here but throughout the U.S. -- a wake-up call for everyone, in my opinion, gay or not.

If as a society we remain complacent and allow this to continue one law at a time, we will wake up one day enslaved and persecuted based upon religious fundamentalism.

-- Donnie Caruso

Wasilla

Check who funds association

Many news outlets and reporters look to the American Dietetics Association for trustworthy and accurate information on diet and nutrition.

I would have done the same until I learned that the ADA favors industrially processed ingredients over organic food, even though their own Hunger and Environmental Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group has repeatedly found that plants cultivated in organic systems contain higher levels of nutrients and an organic diet avoids the many serious health risks associated with pesticide exposure.

The American Dietetic Association refuses to endorse organic, but it has given its stamp of approval to aspartame and genetic engineering. Could this be because they receive industry funding from companies like ARAMARK, Coca-Cola, Colgate Palmolive, Corowise, Ecolab, Ensure, General Mills, GlaxoSmithKline, Kellogg, Kraft, Mars, Pepsi and Unilever, as well as the industrial dairy and beef industries?

-- Kerry Romig

Seward

Obama hasn't backed justice

Obama has disappointed me. I am happy with his forays into the areas of health care, Guantanamo Bay and foreign relations. President Obama has even rescinded the global gag rule and put stem cell research back on the table.

However, his administration is refusing to come to terms with Indians in the Cobell case. Indian lands held in trust by the government were mismanaged, pilfered, and an audit of just 1973-1992 shows that at least $20 billion is unaccounted for. Judges have even ruled a full accounting is impossible.

The current Justice Department and Interior contend the federal government owes nothing and have refused to admit their responsibility and refused to consider settling. What is clear from this is that Obama cares about social justice as long as it is popular. Our presidents are supposed to govern with principle, and that was the message of Obama's campaign. However, just like with campaign finance and OCS drilling, principle appears to have taken a back seat to expediency.

-- Chris Kolerok

Anchorage

Halibut limit bad for tourism

If the Alaska Department of Fish and Game does oppose the 50 percent reduction of the daily bag limit of halibut that is now proposed by the commercial halibut industry and the National Marine Fisheries Service, halibut fishing tourism will vanish in Alaska. What do you think the future economic impact will be on Alaska coastal communities like Homer if this bad law passes?

-- Bruce Warner

Homer

Rehabilitate offenders

A recent Pew Center report states that 1 in 100 Americans are in prison. One in 31 are on probation, parole or incarcerated. This is far more than any other country.

Dangerous overcrowding and bulging budgets are forcing early release of nonviolent prisoners as well as innovative sentencing alternatives, and it's about time! Our criminal justice system is far too litigious, prosecutorially aggressive and just plain bloated.

As for alternatives to prison, most offender treatment programs are not government supervised or rated, do not work and are nothing more than revolving doors that have become cottage industries. However, they provide a feel-good way for lawmakers to spend money.

There are other approaches. One is the "TLC" program within the Alaska Prison Ministry. For prisoners who participate, the recidivism rate is 28 percent, versus 70 percent nationally. This not only saves our state a tremendous amount of money each year, it increases the quality of life for these people and their families and provides a huge reduction in crime. The Wellness Court is yet another example where "quality" treatment and education pay high dividends to our society. Yet both these programs are underfunded.

Yes, reasonable punishment is often needed; however, our country's enthusiasm for keeping nonviolent people incarcerated has gone too far.

-- Frank Dahl

Anchorage

Look for truth of allegations

I have become increasingly concerned by the number of people I have encountered who are complaining of incidents of excessive force perpetrated by the Anchorage Police Department.

In addition to this, there has been a continuous stream of allegations of thefts of money from those who have been detained by the Community Service Patrol.

Knowing the potential for exploitation of both the homeless and the chronic inebriate, I feel it is imperative to investigate the veracity of these claims. Obviously, if the allegations are factual, they should be of utmost concern to the general public, as they would be grievous violations of the trust we place in those who are supposedly employed to serve and protect, not to mention reprehensible crimes in and of themselves.

The enforcers of the law must be held accountable to the very laws we pay them to uphold.

-- Regan Wales

Anchorage

Bad bicyclists are a hazard

In his letter June 9, "Cyclists need to respect rules," Michael Anderson noted various traffic infractions he has observed biking on the streets of Anchorage. All of us have witnessed the same situations. Several years ago I described the same infractions in a letter to the editor and incurred the righteous indignation of a bicyclist who, in a published reply, chastised my "unmitigated gall" in suggesting that some bicyclists were less than perfect in observing rules of the road.

Yes, the streets are dangerous for bicyclists and everyone else; cars are bigger, heavier and, here in Anchorage, are often driven well over the speed limits. In accidents involving a car and a bicycle, the driver of the car is almost always held responsible. Never mind that the cyclist has been weaving in and out and around traffic, changing lanes erratically, failing to signal, riding against rather than with traffic, jay-biking and running stoplights. Why shouldn't bicyclists, including children, be required to pass a driving test fully as stringent as the one administered by the DMV?

-- Maren F. Evans

Anchorage

ADVERTISEMENT

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@