Public health care is best

It really is time for us to truly change the system of health care provision. I think the public option is the only way to go, and I feel that a trigger is a ruse to get something passed that will, in the end, do nothing to fundamentally change the system.

Do what is right: Put the public option up for a vote, and vote for it! Elections are coming and I'm watching to see who is on the right side of this very important matter.

Mr. Obama, I expect you to do what you promised. Real change. -- Derek Hildreth

Anchorage

Diomede can pay for itself

Sen. Begich is good at spending other people's money. Now we need to pay more for the Diomeders? I would like him to subsidize my lifestyle so that I can live in my hometown.

Why should the rest of the country and the unborn shoulder our burden? Let's put it to a vote: Divert the Permanent Fund dividend to support the Native village of Diomede.

It's time to balance the books and all people should pay their bills. That's the American Dream. Join the rest of society and earn a living; there are untold benefits to that type of lifestyle. Maintaining your traditions is your responsibility (and right), not mine.

-- Siegfried W. Kirchner

Anchorage

Didn't we try this 'new' plan?

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has asked for 40,000 more troops to fight the insurgency. He has a "new" strategy. It's designed to protect civilians and deprive the insurgents of popular support. In another war, in another country, the United States implemented a program to win the hearts and minds of a people, provide security for their villages and neutralize popular support. The country was Vietnam, the program was the "village pacification program" along with the "Phoenix Project." It's an awfully loud echo. -- Richard Hanas

Anchorage

Columnist oversimplifies case for electric cars in the Bush

Columnist Elise Patkotak provided a perfect "Wayne's World" view of electric cars (Oct. 28): Bring them on and they will be charged. A combination of fuzzy math and global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions are used to justify electric vehicles in the Bush.

Electric (battery)-powered vehicles have much promise where conditions and electric power source match. However, Barrow is hardly the proper example to use for the "Bush." Barrow has a local source of natural gas that can feed power plants to produce the "cheap" electricity. My last bill from Chugach Electric charged 14.5 cents per kilowatt hour vs. the 9 cents cited by Ms. Patkotak for Barrow. Imagine what people in other Alaska villages must pay for electric power that is produced by diesel generators. There is also a "minor" issue omitted about reduced battery performance in cold temperatures.

As to whether electric-powered vehicles will lead to less greenhouse gas emissions, this is absurd unless that electric power comes from hydroelectric, solar, wind-driven or nuclear power sources.

-- Brian G. Tomlinson

Anchorage

Corruption case overlooked

In all of the recent discussions of corruption prosecutions, I have noticed an absence of any reference to the Ben Stevens investigation. It seems to me that your paper owes the public better reporting on this investigation. With the possible exception of Allen, Ben Stevens is the only subject who actually seemed to profit from the influence he had. The other defendants are being prosecuted for acts which, while disgusting, were relatively penny ante. If Stevens is cleared, he and the public need to have this known. If the prosecution has been intimidated or otherwise has backed down, the public needs to know this too. It seems that the Ben Stevens investigation is the elephant in the room which should not be ignored or allowed to just go away without a public accounting.

-- Steven Schweppe

Ketchikan

Prostitution bust had questionable intent

Dateline Palmer: "Valley prostitution bust called significant," screams the ADN headline (Oct. 28).

Sgt. Kelly Turney of the Palmer Police said, "While prostitution arrests may be fairly common in Anchorage, the extent of the bust was major for the Valley." Ten adult males ranging in age from 18 to 58 were arrested for answering solicitous ads written by the Wasilla and Palmer police, posing as prostitutes. The article states that the busts were part of a "national push" to find underage victims of prostitution. Translation: The Palmer and Wasilla police took money from federal agencies that "pushed" them to place the solicitous ads.

Sgt. Turney says that "no child victims turned up." What Sgt. Turney does not say is that no prostitutes turned up, either -- only 10 "would-be Johns." This bust does not mean "it's definitely there under the surface," as Sgt. Turney is quoted as saying about prostitution in Palmer and Wasilla.

As no real prostitutes were involved in this bust, the only people demonstrated to have sold their services for money, dare I say prostituted themselves, were the members of the Palmer and Wasilla police involved in this charade.

-- Dwight McGee

Eagle River

Punishment too soft on judge charged with second DUI

I am outraged that the judge who was charged with his second DUI was only sentenced to five days in jail. It appears that this is just another case of the system taking care of its own, rather than giving a truly meaningful sentence -- for instance, a minimum of 30 days in jail. A five-day sentence can be served on weekends, and is nothing more than an inconvenience to the offender.

Those who administer the law are not above the law. When they break the law, their sentences should be commensurate with the crime.

This sentence is a mere slap on the wrist, and does nothing to deter him from doing it again. Although public humiliation might be a deterrent, a "real" jail sentence would show the public that the justice system believes driving drunk is not OK for anyone, no matter what his position or job title.

Driving under the influence is a crime people choose to commit. Innocent people are hurt or die from that choice. We need to get tough on all drunk drivers -- especially repeaters!

-- Charlotte Phelps

Anchorage

Military plan too exhaustive, expensive for Afghanistan

I had tears in my eyes when I learned that President Obama went to Dover to meet the remains of soldiers from Afghanistan coming off the cargo plane. Obama did so knowing he may soon send more troops off to war. I hope that is not his decision.

It costs $1 million a year for each soldier we have in that country. We need to acknowledge that we can't fight a culture or reduce an impoverished country into submission through military means. We need to use our country's resources to help solve Afghanistan's social, economic and political problems in ways that are acceptable to that country's people in every peaceful, non-military way we can creatively accomplish.

I, for one, am not clear what our military mission is in Afghanistan and hope that Obama's current high level discussions will lead us out of the swamp we Americans find ourselves bogged down in.

-- Lillian Wilder

Anchorage

ADN keeps connection alive

I'm an old man (75) who has had a love of Alaska for over 60 years. I was a subscriber to the Alaska Sportsman in 1947-48 as a kid. I still subscribe to Alaska Magazine. I am an avid reader of Dana Stabenow and was fortunate to spend 10 days in Alaska a few years ago. If I had my life to live over, it would be in Alaska. As a retired conservation officer, it would have been the ultimate in Alaska.

Anyway, the point of this letter is to say the Anchorage Daily News, which I just found online, is the best newspaper I have ever read. Now that I have found it, it will become a part of my daily reading.

-- Robert Muldoon

Killingworth, Conn.

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