FORGIVENESS & REDEMPTION

As spiritual director of the Blue Mountain Lotus Society, a national affiliation of contemporary Buddhists, I found the following statements by Mr. Hume on the Fox News Network (concerning Tiger Woods) offensive, inaccurate, and unfortunate: “He’s said to be a Buddhist. I don’t think that faith offers the

kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith so my message to Tiger would be ‘Tiger, turn your faith, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world’.” Hume’s statements are inaccurate: Buddhism is a tradition grounded in compassionate action which highlights the practices of forgiveness and reconciliation. His statements debase the Christian tradition by suggesting that grace is cheap and that having a religious experience is all that is required to “fix things.” I do not believe that this approach to spirituality is representative of any faith tradition.



The Ven. Dr. Anthony Stultz





CARBON TAX

Climate change is a fact, and CO2 emissions are strongly correlated with it, so it’s important to reduce CO2 emissions in order to avoid catastrophic climate change. Along with sexy advertising, the best way to influence a population’s behavior is through its pockets and pocketbooks. A carbon tax and public awareness initiative would serve the dual purpose of raising money and encouraging conservation of fossil fuel-generated energy. Carbon taxes, specifically taxes on fossil fuel-generated electricity, can be used in

a couple of different ways. Revenue generated from them can be used by a city for public works projects, to pay police officers, to reduce municipal carbon emissions, to pay teachers, or to fix parking meters.

They could also be used to make coal power slightly more expensive than wind power and encourage consumers to both conserve and buy green electricity. If politicians are concerned about increasing taxes, a carbon tax can also be revenue-neutral. A revenue neutral tax is one that negates itself by providing rebates or subsidies in other areas. For example, at a local level, a carbon tax on businesses could be refunded to businesses by eliminating payroll taxes. For residential power, consumers’ property or school taxes could be reduced or eliminated and carbon tax revenue could fill the gap. With conservation and green power, many taxpayers could save money on current taxes. Carbon taxes are useful for generating revenue and for influencing fossil fuel consumption. They are good ways for local governments to raise money without significantly raising taxes. Unfortunately, in Pennsylvania, the approved tax code for local governments does not mention carbon taxes, so municipalities can’t implement them. Please write Representative Mirabito and ask him to correct this oversight.



Ed Sortman





EXPOSING CORRUPTION?

On June 8, 2009, a complaint was filed in the United States Middle District Court for Pennsylvania, accusing Lycoming County President Judge Kenneth D. Brown, Judge Dudley Anderson, Prothonotary William Burd, and Court Administrator Kevin Way of violating the First Amendment rights of county residents Steven and Caroline Wicks. The complaint alleges that these prominent elected and appointed officials, along with a network of judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and businessmen, worked independently and in unison to cover up a lucrative business arrangement between a Lycoming County judge and a corrupt private businessman involving illegal gambling machines. This cover-up allegedly led to unlawful

acts being committed by various parties, including refusal to schedule hearings; perverse, unjustified administrative actions; removal of court records; and retaliation. The complaint states that “because of the pervasive public corruption and the criminal environment which dominated Lycoming County politics and government, the plaintiffs were unable to prevail in any meaningful sense against the corruption they opposed.” Complaints by the Wicks family to various oversight bodies have, until now, failed. The Wicks have retained S. Don Bailey, Esq., of Harrisburg, a former Pennsylvania state congressman and Pennsylvania Auditor General, who has a reputation for rooting out crooks in government. I am dismayed at the failure of the local media and legal community to publicly examine this complaint. It has been over seven months since this complaint was filed, and to my knowledge nothing about this has been reported. It would be fair to conclude that if this cover-up exists, it does so with the aid of the corporate media.



Frank Steckel





HEALTH CARE REFORM

Dear Representative Carney, I attended Williamsport’s town meeting at the Welch Center on Wednesday, Jan. 6, and I think you handled that town meeting with diplomacy, fairness and open mindedness. I was not

chosen to ask questions, but if I had been, I would have presented these ideas and questions: Why can’t we look at successful health care reform either in this country or from other countries and discuss what can be learned and utilized? Why turn that discussion into a partisan debate? Why can’t we discuss small pieces of the health care reform that can reduce costs and increase the availability of care and that are based upon common-sense approaches, such as San Francisco’s city-wide health plan utilizing existing facilities in which people who have health plans can keep them but people who do not must choose a facility (like managed care) and pay according to their income. Problem to discuss: how not to burden small businesses with taxes? Why don’t we have free outpatient clinics in communities, with nurse practitioners or trained

nurses for basic services? And would that solution save money? How can we make the Medicare billing system easier to understand for the average person? How can Medicare recipients see fraud if they

cannot understand the bill? A friend recently received a bill for a procedure and the four charges did not add up. He can’t tell if they charged the correct amount or not. Can there be a basic fee structure for common procedures? A consumer can’t compare costs, and the billing departments are indignant

if you ask them what a doctor’s visit or a procedure costs. Car dealers provide cost analysis and realize that it is necessary: how can health care entities be more competitive if the basic facts are not known? How about a government internet clearinghouse for cost analysis? Other countries are not afraid to quote costs, and many times their delivery of health care is better. What about Geisinger’s program of pay incentives for positive patient outcomes--is it effective? What incentives would other health systems need to implement similar plans? This is such an urgent problem that “venting” is just not enough. Please let us come together to find a solution.



Sincerely,

Melody Williams





REFORM-LITE NOT FEASIBLE

Reform-lite, as some are advocating, is simply not a feasible way to tackle the complex puzzle of our health care system. If preexisting conditions are no longer grounds for insurance companies to deny coverage, people will simply tend to put off buying insurance until they get sick. If the insured pool does not simultaneously expand to include younger and healthier people, then premiums and out-of-pocket expenses will skyrocket for the rest of us. That’s just one example of how fixing one piece of the problem won’t

work. We need comprehensive reform. The election of one new senator from one state should not be allowed to stop health care reform for the rest of us. Too many people are suffering and dying from lack of health insurance for Congress to give up now. The choice is not between comprehensive reform

and reform-lite. It’s between real reform and no reform at all for another 20 or 30 years. The House should simply pass the Senate bill as quickly as possible so it can go directly to the President to be signed into law. That’s the kind of change we voted for in 2008.



Call Congress today to tell them we want real health care reform now!

Alison Hirsch

Organizer

PA Health Access Network

www.pahealthaccess.org