Design plan to aid child development
Chattanooga's chief of police deserves recognition and praise for his recent letter on juvenile crime and its tremendous impact on the society at large.
As a former behavior teacher, I witnessed all of what the chief said. The schools provide the nearly perfect environment to both witness and solve behavioral issues that appear with the child, and I cannot exclude the youngest of the children (kindergarten and even pre-K classes).
Because I had the opportunity to observe from early grades up to the higher grades, I'm able To make specific observations and recommendations.
Children as young as 4 exhibit behavior that's not consistent with expectations in the classroom. Teachers know this and can speak to the problems a child has. Why not develop cost-effective programs that address those concerns the teacher has? By that I mean developing a comprehensive training program that includes the child and the family unit. Why not include more professionals in the child's early development and aid the amelioration of family dysfunction so often a factor in the youngster who exhibits, and would warrant behavioral intervention.
The costs are too high! Not really, when one factors in the cost of juvenile and adult crime; the human costs of not doing anything is too high.
ROBERT J. BROOKS
Have congressmen serve two terms
What if all 435 congressional newcomers agreed to serve two terms (four years) and then retire, what would run through your mind? Could you envision Congress starting to clean up the mess that the professional politicians have made over the past hundred years? Envision new congressmen now elected to the hallowed halls who were there because they love America and won their office without strings to big business, union bosses or special interest groups. That they were funded by one non-political organization that only wanted to give America back to the people.
But imagine what these new 435 members could do having no strings attached. They could change the rules so that Congress would have to participate in Social Security as you and I do with no retirement at full pay as it now is. Lifetime congressmen would be a thing of the past. A lifetime pension would not be part of the plan.
They could act as never before to start reducing duplicating agencies and services provided by our government. What else could the new Congress do? Just imagine! Is it possible? Yes! Get Out Of Our House! GOOOH.com.
JIM SIMS
Red Bank
Have health policy seek common good
As a U.S. citizen, I find the anecdote in Monday's editorial, "Canadian leader seeks U.S. care," misleading. It does illustrate this: those for whom price is no obstacle find excellent medical care here.
Newfoundland's premier is in this respect like a Saudi prince. Meanwhile, citizens of this country are in clinics in Mexico, Costa Rica and India for surgery they cannot afford here. Our health policy cannot be calculated on the basis of what the wealthy will opt for; it must seek the common good. Our present system does not do this.
Does the U.S. have the "best medical system in the world"?
The U.S. contains more uninsured persons than there are residents of Canada! Our proportion of gross domestic product spent on health care exceeds Canada's proportion. Americans lament the cost of prescriptions; Canada's single-payer medical care so contains the costs of drugs that American seniors, living near the border, buy Canadian. Americans choose Canadian surgery similarly.
Canadians defend their health care system. It effectively delivers essential care to all, with acknowledged waits for non-emergencies. If the U.S.A. will not accept Canada's single-payer medical system it can still (1) regulate the profit motive in health care, (2) shrink the number of uninsured persons, (3) protect the injured/unwell from bankruptcy.
DR. KEN STEWART
Lookout Mountain, Ga.
Positive things occurred in a year
Even though the smoke has yet to clear from the train wreck which is our government under liberal control, there have been some positive things to note over the last year.
President Obama has been reduced to a bumbling money manager and exposed as the angry socialist schemer that he is.
"The Kennedy's seat" is the people's seat once again after 45 years.
ACORN, President Barack Obama's old employer, imploded from it's own corruption.
Al Gore and the "global warming" hoax are the laughing stock of the world, and everyone wants their money back.
The Nobel Committee deservedly is being ridiculed for awarding the undeserving President Barack Obama their prize.
The plummeting credibility of the elitist, liberal media for their shameless fawning over President Obama and their double standards.
The harsh realization hitting the uninformed that conservatives, not liberals, are the champions of free enterprise and free speech.
Dick Cheney continuing to make liberals foam at the mouth whenever he's proven right and boldly states it.
The anger and disillusionment of the young voters who voted for President Barack Obama based on his speeches and media-created image.
FRANCIS
SANTAQUILANI
Health plan aims to direct life, death
If ever there was a time in our country's history when your help was needed immediately, it is now -- right now! The Obama regime is determined to push ObamaCare down our throats, and from all reports coming out of Washington, they are using every desperate tactic available to get this legislation passed. They are debating it now, and a vote may come at any time.
Please, folks, get in touch with your legislators and ask them to vote "no" on ObamaCare.
This plan is so flawed, even in its entire rules of implementation, but it goes way beyond health care. It is a blatant attempt to gain control over our very right to live or die. This is common knowledge now.
If I remember correctly, here in America we have always accepted without question that God is the only power that gives us life and God is the one who determines when it is our time to leave this planet. Why should we now turn that power over to the Obama regime? They have made no bones about it.
ObamaCare will be rationed. If it passes, God forbid, we have saddled our children with this dangerous monstrosity. Please help.
MARIE BOUND
Blairsville, Ga.
President too partisan
Has anyone else had to regurgitate what the president keeps reminding us? That he's a Democrat and "his" party is in power, and he was elected to have the power over us all, especially the GOP.
I got the impression that he was president for all of us here in the U.S.; that means there is no "us and them." He wanted an open forum on health care reform, but twice as much time was taken by "his" party.
I was glued to the TV for that function but came away with nothing more than a headache.
It is my belief that the country comes first in everything, then the states. So why is it impossible to take care of the country's problems before moving on to local stuff and foreign countries.
As much as I hate admitting it, practically the whole world regards us in a negative light, so why do we keep trying to buy their friendship? A billion Muslims will eventually be against us, and I keep asking why, but no one seems to have an answer. I know, Allah tells them to. My God would give His life to correct that misguided concept. Oh! He did, didn't He!
JOHN PERRI
Ooltewah
Excellent letters and suggestions from Robert Brooks and Jim Sims. More ignorance from a doctor who has never had to ply his trade north of the border or in a European Socialist/Communist HC system. Right on Marie Bound and Francis Santaquilani! Good stuff all around for a change. Very astute observations as well from John Perri, but I might add that the problem is that our Constitution isn't being adhered to in all its wisdom that the Founders endowed it with, and allowing for the fickle nature of the underminers who might try to change it. And, stripped of its inherent morality deriving from the Judeo-Christian Divinity that inspired its Laws and precepts, it cannot and did not survive in its totality. We are living proof as Rome was, that we as a people of Faith or no Faith, cannot survive in an amoral vacuum, a stripped down, hygienized version of the Constitution and in a secularized, atheistic world, devoid of Moral Law and personal responsibility.
The States (and we, the people) do not have the say-so anymore, as we should. The Fed involvement over the last 100 + years is the main problem, and has never been the solution. I quote Thomas, we love ya, Jefferson: "In questions of power let us hear no more of trust in men, but bind them down from mischief with the chains of the Constitution". Good advice, much needed today. Tony Blankley, author of "American Grit: What it will take to survive and win in the 21st Century, had a column out on 2-1-10 regarding the 10th, 14th and 17th amendments that covers very nicely the history of our downfall and subsequent court actions/inactions and the solutions we would need to recover. Very well written and explicated.
Positive things occurred in a year FRANCIS
SANTAQUILANI
Reply.
Reading articles such as your's, with the continuing misinformation, the ideologies expressed, seeing people who are still in denial of what happened during the last administration's eight years and are without any concern in dealing with or correcting the crisis issues for the good of this country is disgusting. SO, it appears that you would rather have this country fall into a deep depression, which would continue to put it into a more weakened condition. Then what would you wish for?
Especially with the country in two wars, in high record budget deficit, in record trade deficit in a recession since 2007, the loss of jobs caused by fraud and greed, loss of our industrial base, and etc.
Truth hurts, eh? Nobody's "denying" the last eight years that you keep harping on about, ad nauseum. But YOU and your Comrades do keep on denying what's happening right under your cold little noses, in the Here and Now, aka Reality.
Jim Sims...you have the best idea to come out of these pages in a long time. My mother was saying the other day that Congress should have term limits, too. I agree with this. No more than 2 terms and let someone else get in there.
Dr. Ken Stewart is speaking from experience, it seems. Maybe those of you not in his line of profession might listen to the expert. He is right on target.
The rest of them...well, it just keeps coming to mind that saying "All we have to fear is fear itself."
Positive things occurred in a year FRANCIS SANTAQUILANI
canaryinthecoalmine | On: March 6, 2010 at 11:05 a.m.
Truth hurts, eh? Nobody's "denying" the last eight years that you keep harping on about,
Reply; canary, there was not any "truth" in the letter "Positive things occurred in a year" that was what the "disgusting" was referencing to. It was an "anti good" for the country letter. Just in your case, if you wanted to continue with the last eight years, then you must have been happy with what happened during that period, for the Nation to end up in the financial recession that it did? Regardless of how hard you try, the eight years of the Cheney and Bush administration history cannot be rewritten and nither can the mistakes they made be changed.
I still have issues with:
Christian = morality
That's not been my experience. I have not seen morality tied to religion. In fact, I have experienced the opposite.
If drug companies are to develop new drugs, they must be able to recover the cost of developing the drugs. Why does Canada import so many of our drugs rather than develop its own? Could it be that the government there keeps the prices artificially low? Our drug companies could refuse to sell drugs to Canada but why would they? Canada may not pay its fair share but it does pay a share. If you are happy with the number of drugs already invented and feel no new drugs are necessary, then keep up this line of attack.
Could over-regulation by the government increase the cost of developing drugs?
I just changed from a drug that cost $6 a month to a new one that costs $130 because it is better for me. I did not have this choice before the new drug was developed and made available. I could demand the government not allow any drug company to charge more than $10 a month for a drug, but what will I do in 10 years when there is no new drug to replace the one I am on now once my body so well adapts to it that the drug is no longer effective?
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