Put a priority on voting

Put a priority on voting
EDITOR:
I was thrilled to read that everybody who gets out to vote or even votes absentee will get a $20 gift certificate to be used at a restaurant of their choice. Yeah, right. Is that what it will take for people to get out and vote?
This is the last of many letters to the newspaper I will write about voting because I don't care anymore. This letter isn't about people who do vote, it's about the boneheads who don't.
In last Tuesday's Vindicator, an article read "Officials predict low voter turnout." So what's new??
Our country is going to hell in a hand basket while we worry about who will win on "American Idol!"
Let me sidetrack for a minute. A few weeks ago I had a call from family that I hadn't seen for awhile and they wanted to know if they could come to visit. Sure, come on over. Over they came and we had a great visit, until it was almost time for American Idol to come on. They would have to leave as they didn't want to miss it, all the time looking at me to see if I was going to turn the TV on. I didn't - and they left. End of story.
The Mahoning County Board of Elections can't make it any easier to vote; you don't even have to leave your house.
America -- we are getting lazier by the minute, I hate to see what is coming down the road, and not too far down the road at that. Get out and vote.
JOAN FARMER
Poland
Senate bill targets medical benefits mandated by states
EDITOR:
As a resident of Mahoning County as well as a physician with much of my clientele from our county, I would like to share with your readers some information that would affect everyone with health insurance.
There is currently a piece of federal legislation working its way through Congress that would end state mandated benefits for all Ohioans. The bill I refer to is Senate Bill 1955, the Enzi Bill. SB 1955 is a great name because it turns back time to about that year on state's rights by stripping away all prior state enacted mandates, including all of Ohio's insurance equality laws. Since the House of Representatives has already approved some similar legislation, all that is needed for this to pass is for Ohioans to be silent and the president will sign away all of our state's insurance rights. Over the past six years, our Senate has prevented this legislation from going forward, but that is not now the case.
Proponents of this legislation argue that small businesses will be able to more easily afford the cost of health insurance for their employees if so-called "costly state mandates" are eliminated. What this means is that employers will be free to: eliminate an insured's benefits with regard to entire provider classes or types of positions; place caps on numbers of visits; require pre-authorization for office visits to the provider classes of their choosing; place higher deductibles on care provided by certain provider classes in an indiscriminate manner; and overall discriminate against certain provider classes or physicians in any manner they choose.
If this legislation concerns you, contact your senators. The further erosion of your health care rights are at stake.
JAMES K. KRUMPAK III, D.C.
Poland
Hindsight is 20/20
EDITOR:
When the Iraq war was proposed, many of my friends sat back, saying the government officials knew better than them, what was the right line of action. In hindsight, I see things differently.
We do need to speak out and make our wishes and beliefs known. I do not believe war is the answer, and I'm hoping and praying that we don't make the same mistake again.
CAROL GOTTESMAN
Hubbard