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Show do nothing, To escape criticism be nothing. ?bert Hubbard, author and A Opinions say nothing, publisher (1856-191- 5) pool of kindness At first glance, Gov. Norm Bangert-er'- s proposal for a state insurance pool for uninsurables smacks of socialized medicine, and socialized medicine is a frightening thought. But a closer look reveals little to fear and much to be gained from the proposal. It was announced last week that the governor had included $3 million for creation of a state pool in his 1991-9- 2 Ban-gertbudget. The appropriation, which a announced during meeting with er the Comprehensive Health Insurance Pool Board, could be enough to keep the plan going indefinitely. The emphasis is on "could" because a study warns that heavy use of the pool could require further state subsidies down the road. The plan would make insurance available to the estimated 6,000 Utahns who are currently unable to qualify for health insurance by normal means due to their physical conditions. The plan would provide coverage for all of the state's uninsurables, not just those employed by large companies that can afford to absorb the extra medical costs associated with chronic conditions. Those companies that now offer insurance to employees or employee dependents who fall under the "uninsurable" classification would be able to put them Cinder the state plan by sharing the cost Employees or employee dependents Tuesday Dec. blight (tlit)7. 11, 1990 AMmill.'GTIIifl' DESTROYS. FRUSTRATES, ETC. Herald comment WQSTQrj KWMttD WCTMHWY who work for small companies that haven't been able to offer medical insurance or who are would be able to purchase coverage directly from the state. Two plans would be offered, one with a $1,000 deductible and a $2,000 annual limit on expenses and a second option with a $500 deductible with a $1,500 annual cap. Those insured by the state would have a lifetime benefit limit of $500,000 and could receive no more than $150,000 in benefits during a single year. The plan is not socialized medicine because socialized medicine provides health care for the entire population and sends the bill to taxpayers. The plan does provide, however, great social bened efit. Imagine the financial and emotional trauma of having a debilitating disease or condition and no health insurance. Thousands of Utahns now live with that terrible set of circumstances. The proposed plan would be an overdue measure of kindness. Utah can afford the plan and our state will be morally poorer if the pool is not put in place. 3 Letters Choice for Panama Editor: The Panamanian people were guaranteed their sovereignty as a free nation through the efforts of the United States and our fleet. ; We gave them generous financial aid to help ' the new nation. We even Colombia ' $20,000,000 to console them forgave the loss of the Panamanian territory. Panama is a very young country and, so ; far, its citizens have been unable to govern it properly. Much too often the government has been changed, not by democratic vote, but by assassination. We should offer the Panamanian people the choice of becoming a commonwealth of the U.S. similar to Puerto Rico, if they so desire by democratic vote. This would enable us to keep the Panama Canal and would protect the Panamanians. Many thousands of Russian armed Central American communists stand poised to grab the Canal by force if the United States relaxes its ho'ld on its rightful $10,000,000,000 property. It is the greatest engineering feat Since Man has lived on this planet. I am sure that the thinking people of the less than three million total Panamanians would, by a democratic vote, accept our offer of commonwealth. This would guarantee their freedom forever plus their economic security. I am a Navy commander, member of the national advisory board of the American Security Council which is affiliated with the National Security Caucus of 250 American Congressmen. I am also a graduate of the Naval War College in international law., Amendment X of our Bill of Rights states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people." This is a democracy, people, get off your gluteal muscle and write your overpaid congressmen, all 150,000,000 of you adults! '. '. - Ken Tomkinson i Barefoot Bav, Fla. Request a trial Editor: Recently I was a spectator at a trial in the Justice Court in Utah County. Three citizens were charged with hunting out of season on Nov. 3, which was the opening of the pheasant hunt. The three accused argued that they didn't leave the house until 7:55 a.m. and therefore, it was impossible to have been hunting prior to 8:00 a.m. The county attorney (after first stating the date of the infraction as Nov. 20, then his team correcting him to Nov. 5. and finally the judge correcting them to Nov. 3i contended that since a call came into dispatch at 7:48 a.m. and the officers arrived in the general vicinity at 8:30 a.m. and at some undetermined time thereafter saw the accused, that they certainly were guilty of hunting out of season. Evidence: the only (so called) witness testified that he could not identify any hunters; no one. including the officers, said they saw these people shooting: the three accused did not possess any game birds: a pheasant, that did fly into the witnesses trailer, was not examined for gunshot wounds and was. in fact, killed by the witness wringing its neck (and was presumably eaten by the witness after the officers gave him the bird). Well, the judge notified the three accused, by mail, that they were found guilty and had to return to the court Dec, 10 for sentencing. I firmly believe that a jury could not have found these three gentlemen guilty with such a profound lack of evidence and testimony aad- the resulting level of reasonable doubt. The only thing in doubt is what criteria the judge used in arriving at his "taken under advisement" decision. Only before a jury are you innocent until proven Kuilty. Before a judge, however, you are guilty until - proven innocent. You see, these three gentlemen tried to defend themselves. They did a good job. They weren't as nervous as the prosecutor. But as any defense attorney can tell you, if only a judge is hearing the case, the majority of the time he will rule with the the revenue generations. prosecution The moral to this story is if you think you are innocent of a charge, plead not guilty and request a jury trial. Seeing this trial first hand has reminded me again of the wisdom our Founding Fathers had in preserving for the people this right to a trial by jury' of our peers! Sam Hicks Spanish Fork Keep the change Editor: I would like to do my part and help reduce the federal deficit. They say even at my modest income I owe about $3,000 tax this year. ! understand the military spends $800 each for toilet seats on some of our special aircraft. I'm going to send the IRS a gift certificate towards four (4) toilet seats at Sears and let them go ahead and keep the change! Brent Mortensen Orem Offended by cartoon Editor: I was very disappointed with the Dec. 7 political cartoon showing Saddam Hussein with a 'I love the NRA' button on his hat. National Rifle Association members are a freedom-lovin- g cross rection of American society. Upholding the Constitution of the United States is one of the main purposes of the NRA. Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator who violates every principle of the Constitution and takes away people's freedom. To equate the two, even in a political cartoon, is very offensive to me as an NRA member who believes in peace and freedom. Robert Sawyer Provo g, Thank a hunter Editor: In response to a letter from Iarry Men-lov- e (Sunday. Nov. 25) and another from Christine Dowle (Wednesday, Dec. 5). I am giad that there are those who appreciate and enjoy wildlife as much as I do. who enjoy wildlife need to realize that it is the hunter who has contributed most to the preservation of wildlife. Thanks to hunters like Theodore Roosevelt, who had the insight to preserve our wildlife. He protected Yellowstone and created the foundation of many fish and wildlife programs. Dollars received from licenses and hunting equipment help fund transplanting programs, law enforcement, protection and improvement of habitat and more. Nothing had been mentioned in these letters of poachers or irresponsible stockmen and the destruction they bring to wildlife. Nothing was said of how poaching steals from us all, or how great numbers of deer and elk are killed on roadways because the surrounding hills have been severely overgrazed. I would like to tell Larry and Christine that the very place they live once supported wildlife. I'd like to ask them if they eat meat, own furs or leather products, use shampoo or soap or even buy pet food. A gardener is proud to raise his own fruits and vegetables, it is a feeling of In the same manner, a hunter has pride that the animal obtained in a hunt without possibiity of was not penned-iescape, nor did it die an assembly-lin- e death. The Daily Herald tries to be a community paper by providing a wide span of interests to all. With 180,000 plus hunters in this state, I'm sure there was much interest taken in the photographs which offended a few misunderstanding readers. The next time a enjoys wildlife, they should thank a hunter or at least buy a license. Paul L Hardee Orem Non-h'mte- rs n big-ga- non-hunt- er big-ga- Provo in desperate need of depot Arriving in Provo by Amtrak train can be a scary experience, as two teachers from Portugal learned the other night. When they got off the train, they found only the tiny tin Amtrak shack that serves as Provo's railroad passenger station. It was freezing cold and there were no taxis waiting. There was no one to meet them, thanks to a mixup in communications. Each had a young son in tow Maria with a and her friend Piedade with a plus luggage to worry about. I had just seen a young man off for San Francisco, and was about to drive off when I noticed the passengers from Portugal. The station is in a dimly lit, lonely area of town. At 10 o'clock at night there, you can let your imagination run wild and worry about getting robbed or assaulted. But when these women's plight finally hit me, I decided I had to help. As learned later, in their home town in Portugal, the LDS branch president of Maria and Piedade had been a young LDS missionary from Provo, Elias McGraw. The Portugese party had fiown to New York and taken the train to Provo. They were trying fo reach the home of Elias' parents in west Provo, the Dan McGraw family. Fortunately the phone in the Amtrak shack was working and after getting the busy signal for a long time, I finally got through to the McGraws and this family drove to the station to rescue the Portugese visitors. Since the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad demolished the old Provo railroad station back in 1986, incidents like this one have often happened, according to Steve Den-slepresident of the ProvoOrem Chamber of Commerce. y, program they aready have in place. People have come to Provo City Council the past three months asking the police to Ed swing by the station at various times, especially when passenger trains stop, to see if anyone is in trouble. But the train is consistently late at the station, says Ireland. "People are left. It is fkHERALD an ugly problem. I feel bruised in the head from all the walls I have bumped up COLUMNIST against." Back in 1986, the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad demolished the old Provo railroad "In the winter it can be a dangerous depot, a 8,200 square foot building, even situation. I had a lady from New York call though Provo developer Craig Call presentme 20 times to make sure someone would ed the railroad with a plan to renovate the be there to pick up her son to get him up station. Call said his proposal got lost in to BYU. I finally went down personally the railroad's bureacratic redtape. Of course, nothing can be done about and picked him up and drove him up to his that now. But if federal money is not dorm at 2 in the morning," Densley said. The Portugese women struggled to speak available, there ought to be some way English when I tried to help them. When citizens can marshal resources to build and asked how long they had been on the train maintain a station to serve an increasing from New York, one replied, two years. number of rail passengers getting on and off the train here. I was surprised the (Perhaps it seemed that long!) The present Amtrak shack is an eyesore other night over how many were involved. and a disgrace to the city. Something must And with a depot, the numbers would be done about it. But it isn't that people increase. like Densley, Provo city officials, ConAs one suggestion, why not explore the gressman Howard Nielson and others haof a combined restaurantstation? possility ven't tried their darndest to do something At the moment, Amtrak trains stop at about it. They have! Provo at 6:25 a.m. and 9:50 p.m. to executive assistant Raylene Ireland, Provo Mayor Joe Jenkins, has made nuMeanwhile, why can't the Provo police merous contacts, and Gary Golightly, the regularly patrol the area when trains are city's economic develpment director, has coming in? They couid check Amtrak's toll made two trips to Washington trying to get free number each day for exact arrival Amtrak to do something about the situa- times so that late trains did not foul up tion. this system. If the police did this, perhaps However, as Ireland laments, they've people like my Portugese friends wouldn't be stranded, and the chamber of comjust run into the federal bureaucracy. Amtrak pleads poverty. They always reply merce might stop getting all of those that they don't have the money to run the letters from furious rail passengers. Haroldsen Saddam hits Bush before talks even begin WASHINGTON -talks wentfirst toscore The peace Iraq even before the talks opened. Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein forced President Bush to back down on his resolve to invite Kuwaiti leaders to the talks. Saddam got Bush to blink by threatening to invite his own unwelcome guest Palestine liberation Organization Chairman Yasir Arafat. That prospect was so contrary to Bush's cuirent Persian Gulf policy that he caved in immediately and agreed to bilateral talks only between the United States and Iraq. The White House and the State Department have downplayed the president's fast footwork because they did not want it to lock like what it was, a technical knockout of Bush in the preliminary round. Knowledgeable sources with access to the secret cables between Baghdad and Washington told us what happened. President Bush surprised Saddam and U.S. allies with his offer on Nov. 30 for direct negotiations. Bush said he would meet with the Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz in Washington and would send Secretary of State James Baker to meet Saddam in Baghdad. Then, almost as an afterthought, Bush said he would invite others of "our coalition partners" to come along. Saddam became obsessed by the remark. Whom did the Americans intend to bring? Finally, he received secret confirmation from Washington that Bush planned to involve Saudi and Kuwaiti diplomats. Saddam doesn't mind talking to Saudis, but as far as he is concerned, Kuwait doesn't exist any more and he wasn't about to entertain emissaries from the exiled Kuwaiti government. Iraqi troops have raped and pillaged Kuwait, annexed it as a province of Iraq, destroyed Ku citizenship records and moved thousands of Kuwaitis to Iraq, replacing them with Iraqis. U.S.-Ira- qi off-ha- talks with the United States that one-on-o- ne in the Jack Anderson & Dale Van Atta UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE both he and Aziz are likely to use as a conflict bully pulpit to link the Arab-Israe- li it with the issue. They will do it in the private talks and at the press conferences that follow, achieving what Bush was trying so hard to Iraq-Kuwa- dodge. - POKING SORE SPOTS Democratic leaders are gathering ammunition to use against George Bush in the 1992 election, According to knowledgeable sources, the and they don't have to look farther than exiled Kuwaiti government was ecstatic the Persian Gulf. They will charge that in talks. them the include would Bush that Bush helped strengthen Saddam Hussein And it was not a bad idea from the before Iraq invaded Kuwait, that the U.S. American perspective either, because it in Baghdad was Embassy Gulf would have downplayed the Persian just an outpost of the Commerce Department, and that conflict. crisis as a U.S.-Ira- q Bush was only concerned about exploiting But word came back to Bush in secret the potential for U.S. business ventures in cables from Baghdad that if Kuwaitis came along, Yasir Arafat would be there Iraq. too. Saddam has been trying desperately to distract attention from his own brutal Energy Secretary invasion by tying a resolution to the Israeli James Watkins says there is no need for the crisis in the Persian Gulf to drive up occupation of Palestinian lands. Saddam publicly hinted what his position oil prices. He keeps complaining that the would be in a Dec. 1 statement from the rising price of oil is caused by speculation, not shortages. But complaining is all he Revolutionary Command Council that he controls: "If the American side believes does. Neither he nor the Bush administrathat it is necessary (to bring in others), tion has done anything about that speculation. Watkins has been spending too much Iraq, for its part, will call on representatives of countries and parties that are time in the back seat of a limousine. If he connected with unresolved disputes and stepped outside and pumped some gas, he issues. ... Palestine and the other occupied might notice that American consumers are Arab territories will remain before our being fleeced. eyes and at the forefront of the issues that we will discuss in any dialogue." Privately, Saddam's message to Washthat if Baker ington was more blunt showed up with Kuwaitis, Arafat would be there too. The Daily Herald welcomes letters to the Some administration officials are pri- editor. Address letters to Letters to the vately critical of Bush for backing down. Editor, PO Box 717, Provo, UT 84603. These sources believe it was far more Letters must be signed and include the important to .maintain the principle, that writer's full name, address and. a daytime the Gulf conflict is not just a beef between phone number for verification. Letters the United States and Iraq. should be typed, double spaced, and less As it is, Saddam got what he wanted than 400 words in length. L - Letters policy |