MAILBAG - July 5, 2007

Suggestion for Dog Beach jogger

Dogbeach.org provides an important service to Huntington Beach through its efforts to make sure the beach is a clean safe place for tourists, residents and guests to enjoy both the beach and their pets.

My dog loves Dog Beach but has a certain fear of the surf itself. My son would be disappointed if he could not bring his dog to the beach during his visit for our Independence Day Parade.

My proactive suggestion for the jogger is to turn left when she reaches the beach. She would then have an extremely large portion of the 11 miles of Huntington Beach before her without fear of seeing anyone asking for all of us to honor the maintenance of a tidy beach nor the fliers outlining proper dog owner conduct.

For the City Council, I suggest some funds be offered to create the shed for year-round use as we prepare for the many summer visitors — some of whom are our furry friends.

ROD KUNISHIGE

Proposals don’t address affordability

Last week, Mr. Vern Nelson responded (“Sicko commentary needs reality check,” June 28) to my commentary on Michael Moore’s recent trip to the state Capitol.

While Moore is a master at twisting and altering the facts, Nelson does not state the facts at all.

I welcome Nelson’s thoughts but believe it is only fair that he unveil his true identity, for Nelson is the chairman of the Orange County chapter of Health Care for All California, an organization that lobbies in support of universal healthcare.

Some of the figures Nelson cites in his letter are incorrect. For instance, he suggested there are 2 million medically related bankruptcies a year in the United States. Actually, according to the Physicians for National Health Program, there were 797,630 medical bankruptcies last year. He also claims that there were an estimated 18,000 deaths in the country last year due to a denial of service. Those deaths however, were not due to a denial of service but rather a lack of service for the uninsured (Care Without Coverage: Too Little Too Late by the Institute of Medicine).

Nelson charges that government-run health care systems do not “strip away personal choice.” Stated another way, Nelson argues patients would still get to choose their doctor with universal health care. Under the systems hyped in Moore’s film however, such as those used in the countries of Canada, France and Cuba, only the rich get to choose.

When Fidel Castro was gravely ill earlier this year, he didn’t check into the local government run hospital in Havana. No, Castro’s choice was to have a Spanish surgeon and all of his equipment flown on a chartered jet to Cuba. What does that say about free healthcare in Cuba?

Over and over again, the facts show that people are at risk due to lack of service. What Nelson and his organization are advocating only requires health-care coverage and prescribes to whom payments are made. They do not address affordability or access to medical care. Without addressing those key elements, the universal health-care proposal advocated by Nelson is doomed to failure.

State Senator Tom Harman