Letters to the Editor 05/18/2011

To the Editor:

It seems like only yesterday that the Tea Party and Republican candidates were harping about "death panels" in relation to the health plan passed by Congress last year. Now those same spin masters are trying to gut Medicare with spending caps, increasing seniors' fees and out-of-pocket expenses and reducing care. This is the way to "death panels" for those who can least afford to pay more for health care.

In the meantime, the right wing doesn't want to delete subsidies for oil companies or other corporate welfare. The alternative is to put the financial load on those of us who don't count for much in their campaign chests. They continue to focus on elimination of the middle class with an imbalance of public tax responsibility and close the doors to helping those less fortunate. The job threat? They've already sent the jobs overseas. That blackmail is a joke. I often wonder how much is enough for the very

wealthy.

The debt load was declared by former V.P. Cheney years ago to be a non-issue, not important. (All's fair when you want a war.) Now, it seems to be the primary issue to those same "conservatives" who created the massive debt.

Let's pay attention to what took us to this crisis, and let's demand a more humane and considerate approach to restoring financial stability to our nation. Those who called themselves fiscally conservative left the building a long time ago. Tell your congressman to leave Medicare alone.

Bonnie Malone

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To the Editor:

It is amazing how our Legislature and State government picks issues that are not important.

What happened to all the campaign promises about creating employment, affordable health care and balancing the budget? Those issues will be forgotten until the next election and we as the people will forget about the past promises and elect the same candidates.

How do we fix the budget? It is an honor and a privilege to serve. Our elected officials can start paying for their healthcare and retirement benefits like the private sector. This will reduce our deficit considerably.

Healthcare: No one investigates the medical profession and the insurance companies. The latest medical scam involves "In Network" and "Out of Network" locations. For example: If you go emergency at St. Charles Medical Center, the hospital is "In Network," but the doctors are not. So you have an "In Network" facility that hires "Out of Network" doctors. It doesn't take an idiot to see it is another way to scam the citizens of Oregon.

Our street corners have so many homeless with cardboard signs that many cities are now taking reservations for those street corners.

The list goes on... It is time, "We the People" start saying "NO" and holding our elected officials accountable. There are no liberals or conservatives, just Americans. Political party differences have to be put aside to accomplish what is best for the people, not the party.

Richard Esterman

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To the Editor:

Time to let our congressmen and women know we do not support the changes Republicans are proposing that would eliminate or severely limit Medicare. To hold the entire economy hostage in order to cut Medicare (and Social Security?) and preserve tax cuts for corporations and the rich is wrong. The Republicans have recently changed their tactics: now they're calling for spending caps which would actually trigger massive cuts to Medicare within a few years.

There are things that do make sense to change. For instance, by law Medicare can't bargain for the prices they are charged for medication. The Veteran's Administration can bargain and dramatically cut their costs.

The only way we can truly decrease the cost of medical care for everybody, not just our seniors, is to have a single-payer program. I'd go for that any day!

M. Straumfjord, M.D.

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To the Editor:

I am writing to convey to the community that Sisters Folk Festival (SFF) deeply values the partnership we have with the Sisters School District and recognizes the funding challenges the district faces. Additionally, the cuts in people and programs affect the lives and livelihoods of many people, and creates a situation where all of the decisions the administration has to make are extremely difficult. SFF does not have any role in district personnel

decisions.

We are here to support the empowerment of young people through the arts, build community and cultural tourism through the arts, and to provide arts education and cultural programming in the schools and Sisters community. This is all in an effort to help Sisters to be a thriving place to live with excellence in our schools.

I want to assure the community that the Americana Project, in part due to the tremendous support we have received through My Own Two Hands, is as strong as ever. This was evidenced by the recent outstanding Americana Project CD release concert last Friday evening.

We are very excited for the upcoming 2011 Sisters Folk Festival and continuing arts programming in the schools and community.

We look forward to the opportunity to enhance and improve the Americana Project further next year.

Brad Tisdel

Executive Director, Sisters Folk Festival