The healthcare summit; a death at SeaWorld; ethics and L.A.’s airport

Better than curling

Re “Democrats’ next option: Go it alone,” Feb. 26

I had to choose whether to watch curling at the Olympics or President Obama’s healthcare summit. I’m glad I chose the summit. I’m certain it was much more important, and perhaps more exciting.

Initially, I thought it strange that no one from the insurance industry had been invited, because their premiums and profits are a great portion of our total healthcare costs.

Silly me. I soon learned they did have representatives -- they just called themselves Republicans.

J.B. Thomas
Arroyo Grande, Calif.

While listening to the news coverage of the healthcare discussions between the president and members of Congress, my 10-year-old daughter asked, “Why do some people not want everyone to have health insurance?” and “What is good about not having health insurance?”

Having had reliable health insurance all their lives, my kids don’t know what it’s like to be without it, but they are able to empathize with those who don’t have health insurance.

That’s what we should do with those members of Congress -- take away their health insurance until they work out a plan to provide similar benefits to all who want and need it.

Julie Lie
Long Beach

What will happen to all the doctors, nurses and other professionals who have devoted their lives to being the best? Will they now become de facto government employees, who have little or no economic incentive to advance new technologies and treatments?

Government influence on most things to do with commerce is detrimental, and this bill will destroy what few freedoms we now enjoy.

I want to know if the children of the politicians will have their care rationed, or have to wait in long lines, or be forced to deal with the incompetent doctors this system will inevitably create. I venture to say no. The president and his children will still go to Walter Reed and have access to the best doctors, while the Average Joe will have to deal with what’s left over.

I have several family members who are doctors. One is retiring because he is tired of the way he is reimbursed. A cousin has changed professions to become a scientist in a nonrelated field. I wish The Times would report about this, because you are still a reputable news source. It is sad that our population is so underinformed.

Raymond Ferrell
Ladera Ranch

I understand that the healthcare summit was relatively unproductive. What a shocker.

I think I know the real reason why the healthcare debate isn’t getting anywhere: We’re going about this in the wrong way, and deep inside we all know it. Forcing everyone to share in the cost of healthcare coverage is not going to solve the real problem -- which is that healthcare is too expensive.

A much more effective and popular approach would be to start where Anthem Blue Cross is pointing its finger right now. Why does it need to raise premiums on individual plans? Because it is paying out so much on claims.

The Obama administration would do much better to trace this money to see exactly where it goes. What is the final destination of every dollar spent whenever a doctor treats a patient? You’d be amazed how little goes toward actual treatment. If we can successfully reduce the cost, element by element, we won’t need a national healthcare system.

Arthur Saginian
Saugus

A story of murder

Re “Wait for closure takes a lifetime,” Column One, Feb. 25

Kudos to The Times for telling the story of the 1979 murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe and her alleged killer, Rodney James Alcala, from the perspective of Robin’s family.

Kudos also for revealing that Alcala’s conviction in 1972 for “kidnapping, raping and nearly beating to death an 8-year-old girl in Hollywood” resulted in his serving about two years in prison, a sentence that was about the norm for such crimes in 1972.

In California in 1976, defendants convicted of second-degree murder served a median sentence of 58 months.

As a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney in the 1970s (I retired in 2000), one of my biggest surprises was discovering how little prison time was served by defendants convicted of serious crimes.

There were few complaints about these short sentences because few people knew.

Walt Lewis
Montrose

Reading this article, I keep thinking that if there is something to this afterlife thing, I hope it includes a hell.

Paul Burns
Granada Hills

When orcas attack

Re “Trainer killed at Florida SeaWorld,” Feb. 25

You don’t have to be an animal rights activist to realize how cruel and heartless it is to stick Earth’s most magnificent and powerful predators in what amounts to a swimming pool and teach them stupid dog tricks for people’s fleeting amusement. These animals should be released into the wild and the practice outlawed.

Jennifer Horsman
Laguna Beach

It was with great sadness that I read about the unfortunate death of Dawn Brancheau at SeaWorld in Florida. This terrible and preventable accident reminds me of my own experience with orcas.

In 1992, I was hired as a stunt double on the movie “Free Willy.” I spent over seven weeks swimming in the tank with Keiko (the orca star of the movie) and, in the end, came to realize that I was dancing with a behemoth. Though he proved to be a loving and gentle creature, I was totally at his mercy.

In the years since, I have become opposed to the captivity and inhumane capture of whales and dolphins. These beautiful, majestic animals were created to swim freely in the world’s oceans -- not to be caged in a restrictive tank.

It is time we return these gentle giants to the seas and make our perverse desire to enslave creatures like these a thing of the past.

If you want to see wildlife, go into the wild!

Debi Derryberry
Toluca Lake

Real estate and reality

Re “Focusing on foreclosures,” Editorial, Feb. 24

It appears The Times is advocating the continuation of the social experiments that caused much of the current foreclosure problem.

As a real estate broker specializing in foreclosures, I deal daily with defaulting homeowners. The basic problem with loan modifications is that most who request a modification never really qualified to buy the home in the first place. Now, in a bad economy, the loan servicer needs to qualify the borrower to allow them to keep their home. It’s obvious that this process will mostly result in failures.

The idea of writing off loan balances is a bad idea. Why should someone obtain a loan they cannot maintain and then get the balance reduced at the expense of taxpayers and other homeowners? If this practice becomes the norm, foreclosures will increase, as many homeowners will default in hopes of getting their loan balance reduced.

It is time to let the real estate markets correct themselves. Until the government meddling stops, the real estate economy will not see any substantial improvements.

Mike Novak-Smith
Moreno Valley, Calif.

Airport ethics

Re “Conflict-of-interest probe of L.A. airport officials is dropped,” Feb. 25

A whistle-blower got the Los Angeles Ethics Commission to investigate the case of the six high-placed employees at LAX who allegedly received gifts valued at about $1,500 each from LAX contractors.

The Ethics Commission dropped the case. No explanation was offered.

Shouldn’t we be allowed to know why the six were let off the hook?

The lawyer representing the six wants the information leaker sanctioned. It sounds like the fox is guarding the henhouse.

Bob Taber
Santa Maria, Calif.