See the Beltway health care circus

To the editor:

What a Senate show! Government option. Obscene profits. Denial of coverage. Death panels. Pre-existing conditions. Free medical services on demand. Tort reform (or not). Medicare cuts. Individual insurance requirement. Limits on payments to doctors and hospitals. Big pharma sweetheart deals.

What are we missing? Is it the fact that politicians and bureaucrats will specify exactly what will be in the new standard, bloated health insurance policy all of us must buy? This is a central tenet of every option being considered. That is the government takeover of our health care system.

The results? Hordes of new patients descending upon a limited number of doctors, clinics and hospitals for "free" care. Massive increases in health care costs. Heavy tax increases. Limits on payments to medical providers. Doctors quitting the profession. Hospital closures. Rationing. Wild government schemes (doomed to failure) to overrule economic fundamentals and human nature. Even wilder government schemes to ... well, see above.

The ultimate result will be a lousy, bureaucratic health care system lacking innovation and resulting in really bad health outcomes for all but the politicians and their rich or protected friends.

Dave Fair

LAS VEGAS

It's been tried

To the editor:

In his Monday letter, Richard J. Mundy credits Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith for informing him that the United States in ranked 37th in health care system effectiveness by the World Health Organization.

Well, first of all, Mr. Smith's writings are sometimes distorted by omission. In his WHO column, he failed to mention the survey was issued on June 21. Oh, and the year was 2000. That was the last year WHO ever did such a survey, publicly stating the job was too complex.

It is worth noting that WHO ranked the United States first in the world in "responsiveness," a statistic Mr. Smith and Mr. Mundy managed to overlook.

Then, armed with all the facts, a heavy salvo is fired by Mr. Mundy. It seems to the writer that "Republican blowhards are doing everything they can to defeat the Democrat(ic) health care reform bill."

Mr. Mundy, you have it all backward. Republicans can't defeat the Democratic bill. The Democrats have full control of both houses of Congress. The problem for Democrats (and Mr. Mundy) is the "average Americans" realize Mr. Obama's actual plan -- for health care and otherwise -- is to move our country toward a political system that will not work.

As the Review-Journal noted in an editorial on the same day Mr. Mundy's letter appeared, the Russian newspaper Pravda observed last April that, "The American decent into Marxism is happening with breathtaking speed. ... The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama."

The editorial then quotes Vladimir Putin extensively, saying America should learn from Russian history and not use "excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state's omnipotence."

Mr. Putin then cites the "spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of business people, investors and shareholders for their decisions."

How does that top a John L. Smith scribbling for information and quotes worth thinking about?

Fred Waldman

HENDERSON

The children?

To the editor:

In response to "Indoor smoking ban upheld" (Friday Review-Journal):

On one hand we have an unrestricted licensed casino that features gambling, smoking, eating and drinking and allows children 24-hour access through all areas of its public floor space where they are often sitting only inches away from gambling, smoking, eating and drinking with no physical barrier mandated whatsoever.

On the other hand we have a restricted licensed tavern that does not allow children inside its doors at all, yet the tavern is subjected to business-restricting laws and mandates on smoking that have just been upheld by the Nevada Supreme Court in order to protect the children.

Keep drinking the Kool-Aid, boys.

Robert Opp

LAS VEGAS

Small town

To the editor:

In response to the Saturday letter from Jim and Barbara Bodley ("Laughlin devastated by lack of county grants"), may I suggest the Bodleys contact Sen. Harry Reid for assistance. Sen. Reid never misses an opportunity to tout his small-town upbringing in nearby Searchlight.

According to OpenSecrets.org 2007 estimates, Sen. Reid's net worth is between $2,613,056 and $6,258,998. I'm sure he can afford to fund all of the Bodleys' requests while buying a few votes in the process. He's going to need them in the 2010 election.

Alternatively, Sen. Reid should have no problem raising the funds necessary from his top industry campaign contributors including lawyers and law firms, casinos, lobbyists, developers and financiers.

Obviously, Sen. Reid doesn't have any conflicts of interest, and ACORN won't be around to help him out with Mickey Mouse's vote.

Still, I'm sure he'll get plenty of help from unions at the expense of all other workers and taxpayers.

Arthur Throckmorton

LAS VEGAS