30 million new patients will mean rationing by doctors

To the editor:

As the director of Sunrise Hospital Rehabilitation Center, a doctor for 28 years and a life-long Nevadan, I would like to comment on the current health care bill. Forget the 2,000-plus pages nobody in Congress has really read; forget House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's comments a few days ago that "We need to pass this bill to really understand what's in it." Let's dwell on some serious points that have never been fully addressed.

Just where are the doctors going to come from to treat 20 million to 30 million extra patients? From thin air? We are already at a breaking point when it comes to doctors and patients in America. The current health care bill will, in my professional opinion, absolutely guarantee doctors rationing health care.

With more than 75 percent of Americans happy with their health care providers (according to poll after poll) I just don't understand the rush to pass something almost nobody has read and on the full costs of which no one has yet put a price tag.

Any last-minute efforts to use a parliamentary trick to pass this bill leads me to believe they don't want the public to really know what this bill contains. What are they hiding from us?

Personally, I would feel much better if everyone in Congress who wants this bill to pass had to sign a commitment that if they vote for it, they would all dump their own Cadillac plan and immediately join the new plan they say is good for America. Am I wrong in thinking if it's good enough for all of us, then it should be good enough for every member of Congress?

I have dedicated my entire adult life to taking care of the infirm. I believe Congress has become disconnected from our citizens. Poll after poll has shown the vast majority of Americans do not want this particular plan to pass. It's time for Congress to re-connect with the people who elected them.

Before it's too late.

Samuel A. Wise, M.D.

Las Vegas

Cats and dogs

To the editor:

Dawn Gibbons, ex-first lady of Nevada and a former Republican assemblywoman, now says she supports Barack Obama and Harry Reid, and she is getting a radio show to spew her views (Doug Elfman's Monday column, "Radio has a new voice: Dawn Gibbons.")

It gives new insight into the marital relationship of Gov. Jim Gibbons and his then-wife. It must have been fun trying to run a conservative political campaign knowing your spouse supported the enemy's camp. Whatever happened to "love, honor and support" from the wedding vows?

I guess you can't blame the dog as much now for straying from the yard when married to a cat lover. Imagine Barack Obama's position if, during his campaign, he and his people had known Michelle was rooting for John McCain.

And now Ms. Gibbons is getting a talk show forum to air her philosophy. Makes one wonder if she is sincere or if this is another ex-wife retaliation syndrome symptom on steroids.

One must be so careful with whom one becomes entangled -- a truism not many high-profile people seem to keep in mind anymore.

KENT RISCHLING

LAS VEGAS

Go further

To the editor:

I totally agreed with Las Vegas Mayor Goodman's proposal to fire all public-sector employees and start over again. These greedy public employees are raping the average Joe by scamming the system and placing the burden on the private-sector workers. If it were me, I would not only fire the current public-sector employees, but I would hire all new employees who would appreciate the job and work for a decent salary and retirement.

The public employees should have to work for the wages and retirement that the private-sector workers have to struggle along on. The lawmakers should eliminate all merit increases and bonuses and the guarantee of an annual cost-of-living hike that runs between 4 and 6 percent. They should restructure overtime pay so that firefighters and law enforcement unions cannot continue to scam the system to increase retirement and pension benefits so these current employees can retire on up to 90 percent of their highest salary. Also, have all public employees pay for a good portion of their health care (no freebies), and have them put into a 401(k) retirement plan.

If unions needed to be busted, the Nevada unions are a poster child for why they should be dissolved. President Reagan fired all air traffic controllers, which ran into tens of thousands of people, and started over again. It worked! It clearly didn't bring the country to a standstill. I say, if the feds can do it, the city, county and state can do it also. Some cities in California are already firing public employees, and Flint, Mich., is laying off dozens of public safety workers. No one should be exempt.

Thousands of applicants stand in line in most every big city for 20 or 30 police or firefighter positions. They would be glad to work, even if there were no union. So, there is no shortage. We would have new cops, firemen and new salary and retirement plans that can be reconstructed in line with private-sector employee wages and retirements. Better yet, why doesn't the city file for bankruptcy and then dissolve all union contracts and start over again with some of the ideas already discussed?

The public employee unions are breaking and bankrupting many cities in this country. Who's at fault? The lawmakers who pander to these out-of-control unions and their obscene demands in exchange for their votes.

Unfortunately, Mayor Goodman backed off his plan, saying collective bargaining requirements made it unworkable.

Personally, I'm tired of paying for all of these public employees' fat salaries, retirements, health and pensions for the rest of their lives and have them gaming the system while my friends, colleagues and neighbors are paying for our own health care and will never be able to enjoy a decent retirement.

BRADLEY KUHNS

LAS VEGAS