May 1, 2008 5 min read

The primary election is over. The people have made their choice as to who will move on to the general election in November. To all the candidates who ran for office, I would congratulate you for participating in the process. I just hope you can look in a mirror and honestly say, “I ran a good campaign. I stayed out of the gutter and my Mother would be proud of the way I conducted myself.”

If you can’t say this, you should consider changing your ways. This past election left a lot to be desired in this regard.

The voters of Fayette County do not want gutter politics. They want and deserve better than that.

Jerrie T. Mazza

Vanderbilt

PA needs earlier primary election

Your April 23 editorial (“Time for Open Primaries in PA?”) made several good suggestions for improving Pennsylvania’s primary elections. But you left out the most desirable change: holding Pennsylvania’s presidential primary earlier.

Like the people of Iowa, New Hampshire, and other states, we should have a meaningful vote on our parties’ presidential nominees every four years, not once every 20 or so as we do now.

Please contact your state representatives and ask them to hold our primaries earlier, at least in presidential election years.

Michael Comiskey

Connellsville

Addressing presidential politics

Here we go again, Mr. John McCain is trying to capture the White House. I hope this man goes back to Arizona and lives happily on the millions of his wife’s inheritance. I am sure he was a hero, but there were many not recognized in the Vietnam war that should have been heroes.

We have over 4,000 troops dead, and just think of the troops serving in this G. Bush and Co. war who deserve to be called heroes. G. Bush and Co. very rarely speak of the war they created. Out of sight, out of mind, so they think. Not so for those of us who care.

Hillary Clinton will somehow try to win this presidential race, but the outlook is doubtful. Hillary has many good points.

Mr. Barack Obama is the man that appeared out of nowhere. His association with Mr. Ayers and Rev. Wright poses questions. Do I care if Obama wears a patriotic pin? No. Do I think Obama can change the world? No.

The race issue is in the mind of the individual. If I do not like someone of my color, is this a race issue? No. God created us all to live on this planet together and there will always be issues.

If only we had a president that looked at the economy and realized that times are tough for the working families. What can they buy, will it be gas or food? Mr. Bush has circled this planet many times on unnecessary trips and accomplished nothing. Gas prices mean nothing to this man.

He gets freebies all the time. G. Bush Sr. said he never purchased a loaf of bread. Many previous presidents took advantage of their office at the peoples’ expense. Due to the power of the global elite, our wishes as ordinary citizens are totally ignored.

Iraq will be G. Bush’s folly and he will pay heavily for his role as Rambo and his quest for oil and greed. The children of the future will pay dearly for G. Bush’s mistake.

Carmella Hardy

Dunbar

House Dems support health care

One of the most devastating events that could happen in our lives is the onset of a life-threatening disease. It could be a spouse, parent or friend who is sick and needs quality health care, but can’t afford it.

The problem is compounded when those faced with health-related concerns need medical treatment, but don’t have health insurance and are unable to afford medical attention. Depending on the treatments, medical care could potentially cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes financially crippling a family’s savings or accumulated retirement funds.

House Democrats are leading the effort to address the problem. We recently passed legislation, known as Pennsylvania Access to Basic Care, that is the first important step to providing access to necessary insurance for many of Pennsylvania’s uninsured.

Many Pennsylvanians work full time but their employers simply do not offer group insurance. So, many of our citizens either work without health-care benefits and hope they don’t get sick, or they try to enroll in the adultBasic health insurance program and are relegated to a long waiting list that can sometimes take up to two years to get coverage.

adultBasic offers physician care, in-patient hospitalization and other health services to low-income working people ages 19 to 64. PA ABC would immediately cover the 80,000 people who are now on the adultBasic waiting list, as well as expand coverage.

PA ABC would assist small businesses, too. They sometimes struggle to provide their workers with health-care insurance. The plan would create a new initiative that allocates grants to small businesses that already offer health insurance in order to help them cope with the sky-rocketing cost of insuring their employees.

We are urging our colleagues in the Senate to pass PA ABC legislation. We were able to put aside partisan politics for the people of Pennsylvania. We’re hoping the Senate can do the same, for the future of health care in the Commonwealth.

This is National Cover the Uninsured Week. Pennsylvania can take the lead.

State Rep. Deberah Kula

D-Fayette/Westmoreland