ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512090001
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-2 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
REGARDING your Dec. 3 editorial, ``A third way for Medicare'':
I agree with you that much of the rhetoric we hear from Washington is a ``cynical [political] exercise.'' It's distressing to hear those interested in addressing the issue accused of simply wanting to take benefits away from those on Medicare or to have efforts to address the issue linked to tax cuts to stimulate the economy.
Actually, according to The Washington Post, both Republicans' and Democrats' Medicare proposals (including the good effort by the Progressive Policy Institute) fall short of fixing the long-term problems facing the program.
The simple fact is that our country must come to grips with the aging of our population. By the year 2030, our population of those over 65 years old will double in size (to 70 million - nearly 25 percent of our population), putting an increased burden on taxpaying workers.
Once one acknowledges this demographic reality, it's clear that one of three things must be done to keep the fund solvent: raise taxes paid by the working public, delay the age for eligibility for Medicare benefits or decrease the amount of benefits. Some experts predict that we will need to use all three strategies.
At a recent conference for the Federal Reserve Bank, the Medicare issue was examined in the context of our country's economic future. Coping with the aging of our population was called the greatest challenge our country now faces, and the consensus was that the country is moving too slowly to balance the budget and ensure the payment of government obligations, including future benefits.
The recommendations: raise the retirement age, alter benefit formulas (including Medicare's), reduce the federal deficit, make a growing economy a vital national goal, and maintain support for critical areas needed for future growth (including education, research and infrastructure).
With this in mind, it would be helpful if political parties would take this opportunity to show some leadership for the future rather than just trying to score political points.
HENRY IVEY
Family-practice physician
VINTON
The futile search for perfection
WHILE traveling to work recently, listening to Morning Edition on National Public Radio, I heard a story concerning the new development of voter apathy among some of New Hampshire's self-proclaimed liberal Republicans. Apparently, these fiscal conservatives, who believe in affirmative action, big-government programs and the right to abortion, were dismayed that no Republican candidate has stepped forward with a similar slate of principles.
It's a dramatic portrayal that plays itself out routinely in one form or another via the media. Generally, A is unhappy about his choice among candidates B and C because neither has an agenda mirroring A's own. Welcome to democracy, my friend. The voter who casts one vote in his lifetime for a candidate with whom he agrees on every issue is either the candidate himself or a very lucky man.
I have tolled away my years of voting in probably futile search of the candidate who will combine the leadership and integrity of Colin Powell, the moral stance of Mother Theresa, the honesty of Pat Buchanan, the fiscal consciousness of Newt Gingrich, and the heart and compassion of Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan is the closest I've come to date. In the 1992 presidential election, I settled on George Bush. This time around the slate is vastly improved, though none appears on the verge of adopting my entire agenda.
I say to you complainers out there, when elections of any kind are at hand, weigh the issues and make the best choice from the field. And thank God for the privilege to do just that. And I request that if the media must cover this ridiculous bellyaching on such a routine basis, at least cover it correctly. That is, point out that the problem doesn't rest with candidates and the parties, but with the complainants.
ROBERT L. THOMAAS
LEXINGTON
Keeping the good Goodlatte honest
ALL RIGHT, now that Virginia's politics are better balanced, it's time to get serious about the plethora of Republicans in the national Congress. I'm appalled, even outraged, by the un-American practice of permitting a member of one major party to run unopposed. Bob Goodlatte, for example, is a shoo-in for his third term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Don't get me wrong, he is pretty good and may be getting better. But the Democrats don't seem willing (or is it able?) to do anything to keep him honest.
What I propose to make the incumbent and his cronies sit up and take notice is to accelerate the independent movement in our 6th District.
ARTHUR BERLINER
ROANOKE
Ellett Valley, Alaska face common foe
IN RESPONSE to the seemingly serendipitous pairing of your Nov. 22 editorials - "Dead end for the smart road?" and "Poised to drill a refuge":
In the first, you castigate the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors for disapproving the Virginia Department of Transportation's attempt to condemn agricultural and forestal land in Ellett Valley for the ``smart'' road's construction. In the second, you bemoan the attempt by Alaska politicians to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. In a fatuous attempt to disavow your obvious self-contradiction of principle in the two opinions, you state in the second editorial that the refuge "is not, by the way, comparable to Ellett Valley."
Ellett Valley and the Arctic Refuge are a continent apart, and disparate in terms of geology, ecology and the effects of human activities - no argument there. However, the heart of the issues involving these regions is the same: development, resulting in environmental degradation and cultural loss for the purpose of financial gain for special interests.
In Alaska, a wilderness would be destroyed for the construction of an oil field. Here in Appalachia, forested ridge tops across Ellett Valley would be sheared off and sacrificed for the construction of a highway. Also affected would be areas of historical significance, precious and dwindling agricultural lands, the rural character of the community and the unique and fragile ecology evidenced by a number of endangered species.
Proponents of both schemes are those who would reap big, short-term financial profits: in Alaska, the oil industry and politicians; in Virginia, the Virginia Tech-Roanoke-VDOT cartel and some politicians. Opponents of both seek only to preserve places of value to all, the worth of which cannot be measured in dollars.
In Montgomery County, four supervisors stood up to greedy special interests and voted to uphold Virginia law and protect the agricultural and natural resources of Ellett Valley. Let's hope Congress finds enough integrity to protect the Arctic Refuge from plunder by big oil. When it comes right down to it, it's all our "back yard," isn't it?
SHIREEN I. PARSONS
RINER
Democrats have brought on ruin
I AM IN my 90th year and have been a Democrat all my adult life. But no more.
For 40 years, Democrats have controlled Congress. And in that time, their tax-and-spend agenda has brought this nation to the verge of bankruptcy.
During the last election, the electorate woke up to Democrats' sorry record and voted them out of power. Yet they are so power-hungry they continue to act as if they were still the majority.
They have used scare tactics to mislead people, especially the elderly, while they seek to intimidate the efforts of the Republican majority by using false statements, innuendoes and any sleazy tactics that suit their purpose. Democrats want to tax and spend until they complete their agenda to destroy this nation.
I'm sure they will find enough negative, high-sounding phrases to refute what I'm writing. However, the condition of this nation - morally, financially and spiritually - proves my statements.
The school system is a national disgrace, crime is totally out of control, the city of Washington is bankrupt and has a convicted felon as mayor. The moral condition - riddled as it is by gangs who rape, maim and kill at will, and go free because of the lax punishment handed out by liberal and incompetent judges - is a pitiful caricature of what it once was.
MURRAY P. CARVER SR.
SALEM
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