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Viewpoints
Your Opinion
Dr. Magac’s renews troubled
traveler’s faith in mankind
Dear Editor:
Recently I was traveling northbound on I-7S when I had a flat tire
between the Pierce Avenue and Arkwright Road exits. I was alone in my
car and it was very dark along this stretch of highway at 8 p.m.
Traffic was heavy and I turned on my blinkers, hoping someone would
stop. Within a few minutes a car pulled ahead of mine and a well dressed
young man approached and asked if I needed help. He used his car phone
to let those at my destination know where I was. He then offered to
change my tire which he did with expertise by the light of my flashlight.
My benifactor was Dr. John M. Magac of the Perry Chiropractic Health
Center. My thanks to this gentleman for stopping and taking a chance
that I was truly in trouble and did not have some ulterior motive.
My faith in the inherent kindness of my fellow man has been
reaffirmed.
Sincerely,
Lois S. McLain
Reno’s invitation to AIDS
infected foreigners bad news
Dear Editor:
I'll give you the "bad news" first. Attorney General Janet Reno
approved a waiver to allow foreigners infected with AIDS to enter the U.S.
for up to ten days. This will allow AIDS infected participants to attend
the Gay Games in New York from June 18 to June 25. This should
produce an "international biological swap" of resistant and immune
diseases that will secure the jobs of the Center for Disease Control workers
and researchers for the next century.
The second round of bad news for taxpayers is that the administration
has produced the first precedent setting case of qualifying a homosexual as
a "politically persecuted class." This allows homosexuals world wide a
"gay highway" into American health care.
The "good news" is that Gov. Zell Miller personally invited the Gay
Olympics to Georgia, but fortunately they declined his hospitality. Gov.
Miller also wants to repeal the Georgia sodomy laws, but the legislature
won't agree.
More good news, the Democratic Party only has one platform. The
liberal Democratic Party that "moderate" Bill Clinton belongs to is the
same Democratic Party, with the same homosexual rights agenda that
"conservative" Democratic candidate Zell Miller supports, endorses, and
pays allegiance to.
The liberal Democratic Party asked our "conservative" Gov. Zell Miller
to speak at the 1992 Democratic convention in support of both the party
and candidate Clinton. Zell Miller gave a most enthusiastic endorsement
of both the Democratic Party platform and presidential candidate Clinton.
Does anyone remember?
The worst news is that most of the conservative Democrats in Georgia
will not admit there is only one Democratic Party. Until they face reality
and admit this, Georgia will be dominated by zig zagging politicians who
talk conservative to keep them happy and vote liberal to keep the party
happy.
Nolen P. Cox,
Valdosta
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Editor
Houston Times-Journal
P.O. Drawer M
Perry, GA, 31069
Houston Times-Joumal
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Phone: (912) 987-1823
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Government will only make big problem bigger
Health care is without a doubt a
major issue in this country.
Answers are not simple to find and
solutions seem almost impossible.
We have hospitals, doctors, medical
companies, insurance companies,
and many others working together
in what seems to be an effort to
further complicate the issue.
Medical costs are far too high, but
add a dose of government control to
what is already a major problem and
the problem will only accelerate.
One has to admire Pres. Bill
Clinton for being brave enough to
put the problem on the table. Once
we work through all the
Congressional debate on plans put
forth by all the so called experts, I
am sure that where we arrive will
be a bit down the road from where
we are now. In other words, I
believe that since the issue is so
important to all Americans, the end
result of what is adopted will be
better than the present system.
Along the way we have to be
careful not to let the plan proposed
by our President become law
without some major overhauls. If
we allow thousands of bureaucrats
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Perry Scrapbook
During the spring of 1984 members of the Confirmation Class of Perry United Methodist
Church held a retreat at Epworth-by-tho-Sea at St. Simons Island. The purpose of the
retreat was to guide them In making decisions and to re-emphasize God's love for them.
STREET TALK:
If you didn’t file your federal income taxes by midnight Friday, you're late! This week,
just for fun, we took up residence at the local post office Thursday afternoon (the day
before the April 15 deadline) and asked six local residents if they had, or would,
make Uncle Sam’s annual deadline.
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Dan Mason
“I paid them yesterday.”
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Pauline Mitchell
“I always go ahead of the
deadline. I paid mine a
month or so ago.”
Houston Times-Journal
(the Federal government) to run our
health care system, you will see
one big mess of new regulations,
paper work, and in all probability
increased costs and inefficiency.
Most every country that has a
government-run health care system
has faced serious problems. In
England patients can rarely get
dialysis or transplants if they are
over 55. In Canada people wait
months for routine tests such as
scans and mammograms and then
months more for operations. And
it’s not uncommon for patients to
be told what physician to see.
The Heritage Foundation has
analyzed the Clinton plan and
summarized what it would mean to
Americans. Let me share some of
their findings with you.
First off, a government-run
health care program can be called
nothing short of socialized
medicine. Government will set the
standards, "manage” the
competition and attempt price
controls. They will decide who
gets what treatment, under what
circumstances and at what cost.
Choice of doctors won’t be easy,
Jay Williams
"I’m doing it right now. My
appointment is in 10 min
utes.”
Larry Walker 111
"I just mailed it certified
mail.”
Page 4A
- Saturday, April 16,1994 "Houston Times-Journal
paper work and regulations will
increase. Government will not be
able to manage America's S9OO
billion a year health care industry
efficiently.
Pres. Clinton talks about
security, open markets, and free
choice when discussing his plan.
In reality the plan is actually the
largest power grab made by the
federal government since die New
Deal.
The "Supreme Court" of health
care will be created under the plan
and they will be called the National
Health Board. The board will
oversee every aspect of the plan.
They will set benefits, determine
the levels of treatment and changes
in technology. The board will be
the final judge of who gets what
health care, at what cost and under
what conditions.
The real cost of the Clinton plan
will be borne by business.
Employers will be mandated to pay
some 80 percent of the cost to their
local alliance. It is estimated that
the additional cost will be between
3.5 to 7.9 percent in payroll taxes.
And when employers' cost rise to a
Lisa West
"I did it today.”
Irene Golden
"I’ve already filed mine. I
mailed them in February.”
|3fi Bob I
Tribble I
* _l
certain point it leaves little choice
but to eliminate jobs (people).
The Clinton plan calls for a
"Global Budget" that will impose
limits on annual spending. This
sounds good, but when spending is
limited, that usually means
rationing, and rationing means that
someone will not get they care they
need or want when they desire it.
Over time the President's new
taxes can be lifted, his damage to
the military repaired, his
regulations rescinded. But once his
health care plan is put into effect it
will be almost impossible to
remove.
Heritage Foundation has come
forward with a Consumer Choice
plan that I will share with you in a
future column.
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Staff
Paternalistic
rulers take
away freedom
I'm starting to get worried.
I'm worried that our wise rulers in
Washington are about to pull the
parent-thing on us. It seems that
politicians seem to want to protect
us from our stupidity with the only
charge to us being a loss of our free
dom.
The latest battle is over ci
garettes.
Please don't misunderstand me
here. I have never smoked mid, aside
from the realization that smokers are
nicotine slaves, don't see why people
willingly inhale poison.
Recent reports indicate cigarette
manufacturers add a pesticide to their
product. However, in the early part
of this century, nicotine was used as
an effective pesticide. As a friend of
mine would say, "If it ain't good for
the bugs, then it obviously ain’t
good for people."
Furthermore, I wouldn't weep
long if makers of cigarettes went out
of business. I watched my grandfa
ther die of a series of strokes caused
by his nicotine habit. My father died
of congestive heart failure one year
after a stroke forced him to retire.
No, I consider cigarette manufac
turers to rank with the scum of the
earth. Hitler and Stalin have less
blood on their hands than pushers of
nicotine.
But, the smoker also shares
blame in his fate. While nicotine is
more addictive than heroin and co
caine, it is possible to stop. No one
holds a gun to a person's head de
manding they smoke.
Smoking, like driving without a
seatbelt and riding a motorcycle
without a helmet, is an activity
where the hurt is generally confined
to one person. I believe that it is the
upmost in stupidity to smoke; but,
we have the freedom to be stupid.
Or do we?
More and more it seems that gov
ernment has taken it upon itself to
protect us from our stupidity. State
law mandates that we wear seatbelts
when we drive. Seatbelts save lives,
that's true; but, should we not have
the freedom to face the consequences
of our acts.
Consequences.
Every act that I do has conse
quences, good or bad. A paternalistic
government seeks to deny me the
right to suffer the bad consequences
from any act I do that hurts only
myself.
However, the only way to take
away the bad consequences is to take
away my freedom by prohibiting the
act. Limited government is based on
the premise that government only
has the power necessary to allow its
citizens to live and act in freedom.
Limited government also assumes
that its citizens will be able to make
choices, that they will enter the
choice fully realizing that there are
consequences. Limited government
recognizes that the citizen is fully
responsible for the consequences of
his act.
The United States was established
as a limited government, respecting
the rights of its citizens to make
choices and suffer the consequences
of those choices.
