Don’t stop children from receiving health care

To the editor:

I'd like to thank legislators who are reconsidering Gov. Jim Gibbons' ridiculous proposal that would cap the number of children who can participate in Nevada Check Up. Nevada Check Up is an invaluable program that provides low-cost, comprehensive health coverage to low-income, uninsured children who are not covered by private insurance or Medicaid.

Right now, about 23,000 children are enrolled in the program, with a 3,000-child waiting list. Gov. Gibbons wants to cap the number of children who can get regular checkups and "luxuries" such as hearing and vision exams at 25,000 kids. This is intolerable, especially because state officials estimate that as many as 32,500 children will need the program by 2011.

These are often children of workers who have been laid off and lost health care, or whose employers do not offer health care. They are kids who have fallen through the cracks. Going without regular exams and testing leaves them vulnerable to chronic health problems that could plague them for the rest of their lives. It's critical to catch ailments such as asthma or developmental disorders early in order to provide the best treatment.

Thanks again to those legislators who are working to preserve Nevada Check Up so that these children can continue to receive the health care they desperately need and deserve. I hope legislators will continue to protect our children, our state's most vulnerable residents.

Donna West

LAS VEGAS

Keep on truckin'

To the editor:

The Senate Taxation Committee sneaked an amendment into Assembly Bill 235 to increase taxes on diesel fuel by 7 cents per gallon. Lawmakers clearly have not thought this through.

From the chair you're sitting in, to the coffee mug in your hand, that item was, at some point, on a truck.

Truckers will pass these fuel taxes onto all of us in the form of a "surcharge." Lawmakers must find a new way to meet the shortfall.

Vince L. Illia

LAS VEGAS

Political hypocrisy

To the editor:

The outrage expressed by Democrats over the torture of terrorists is making me nauseous. The Democratic Party has supported the torture and murder of unborn children for 30 years. This includes chemical abortions and partial-birth abortions.

The party's sudden embrace of compassion for terrorists is hypocrisy at its worst.

Robert Slaby

LAS VEGAS