Letters

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 250 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 HEALTH CARE Debt morally, fiscally bankrupt We can’t have a rational discussion about health care reform without considering what a growing debt means to our nation and our children for generations to come. We’ve all enjoyed living above our means. Whether it was a social program, better national security, jobs related to government spending or lower consumer prices due to subsidies, we’ve all enjoyed a better standard of living thanks to borrowing. We are borrowing more than we can pay back in our lifetime. It’s like spending your paycheck on dinner, drinks and a movie only to break into your kid’s piggy bank to pay the rent. This year alone we’re spending $1.4 trillion more than we can afford. We borrow from private bankers, foreign governments, etc., by selling treasury bonds. What happens when the younger working generation can no longer afford the minimum payments we are making on our debt? The fantasy view that you are paying your way in this world will evaporate with the government’s ability to write those checks. Private health insurance is paying your way in life. You get the coverage you can afford as an individual and as a generation. When you consider over $1 trillion in borrowing just to pay the bills each year, taking on a trillion dollars more in health care reform is nothing short of stealing from those yet to vote or earn a paycheck so you can have a higher standard of living than you can afford. It is morally and fiscally bankrupt. Lou Kitz Darrington

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