For our democracy, let's have informed discussion
I was saddened to learn that many school districts, including my own district, Upper St. Clair, refused to air President Barack Obama's speech to students this past Tuesday ("Obama's Speech to Students Debated," Sept. 5). The response prior to the speech was outrage that our president would dare try to tell our students to work hard and take their studies seriously. There must be a political agenda!
With this in mind I began to ponder ... Are we so angry and threatened that we fail to teach respect for the elected leader of our country because he is not of our own political party? Have our fears and anger reached such a point that we worried that our children would run home and then convince us to back the Obama health plan or, worse yet, that this short talk would turn our children into "socialists"? I had always hoped that public schools were prepared to teach students to think and thus be able to discern and make good decisions. (I was so glad when Upper St. Clair approved the International Baccalaureate program.)
How then are we expecting to exist as a democracy if our distortions of facts, our fears and our anger take us to a place where we refuse to listen, to learn and to talk informatively about the issues that confront our country?
CAROL WEISE
Upper St. Clair
A sorry situation
Are you serious? Our nation is so divided that there is a subset of our population that thinks it is a bad idea for our president to talk to school students about the importance of working hard in school? Really? In my lifetime I seem to recall that President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush both spoke to school students in a similar forum. I thought it was a brilliant idea then, and I do now.
For the record, I am an independent-thinking individual who thinks both the Democratic and Republican parties are ridiculous, corporate-owned parties.
If people really have a problem with President Barack Obama's talk to school students about the importance of working hard in school, Lord, please help the United States of America.
JOHN HENRY
McCandless
Lesson in censorship
I am a proud parent of three boys. On Sept. 4, I discovered a letter from the school superintendent giving parents the option to keep their children from hearing the president's speech. I was saddened to see it. What do we teach our children when we tell them it is bad to listen to and reflect on the words of one's president?
I believe in democracy, freedom of speech and diversity. Varied opinions make the world interesting. They broaden our thoughts and deepen our understandings, even if we never agree. Censorship suggests that our thoughts are compromised by another's words. This is a poor lesson for children and encourages them to be closed and to avoid difference. It is not a good strategy for navigating in a diverse and global economy. I want my children to listen to others and search for common ground.
I believe in respect and order and authority. Whether you agree with him or not, President Obama is America's president and our children should respect him. What do we teach them about authority when we censor? Blocking out the president disempowers our children's teachers, camp counselors and coaches. It teaches our children that it is OK to tune out because of difference and that omission, subversion and divisiveness are appropriate actions.
While I understand the parental instinct to protect one's child from harm and hurt, I hope that instead of censorship we each take this opportunity to sit down with our children to teach them to be thinkers and listeners and tell them that with hard work, an education and sheer determination, they too can be president of the United States.
AN LEWIS
Economy
The Obama reality
Mike "I'm a reasonable guy" Vargo is anything but ("Let's Make a Deal," Sept. 9 letters). What are they teaching at West Point anyway? I don't know in what world Barack Obama can be reasonably called either a socialist or a radical leftist, but the view here from the reality-based world is that he is another corporate Democrat. One only has to follow the advice of Watergate's Deep Throat and "follow the money" to see that.
JOHN RICE
Mt. Lebanon
Here's the problem
Regarding the letter from Jay Lynch ("Why They Resist," Aug. 26): He wants to know why insurance companies cry "unfair" at the possibility of a federal insurance plan.
It's "unfair" because privately owned insurance firms have overhead to contend with (i.e., wages, taxes, utility bills, etc.) so they must make a profit to survive, whereas a government-run company can take care of all of its overhead with taxpayer money (although the president says the public option would be paid for with premiums, that's just another promise).
The government-run insurance company doesn't need to make any profit at all! It's very obvious! Privately owned companies (which could not possibly meet the lowest rock-bottom prices that the federalized corporation can) will simply be squeezed out of business, and the government would monopolize the entire insurance industry.
DAN FRANCIK
Hazelwood
Get reform done
Tired of hearing about health-care reform? Then let's get it done. We can have real health-care reform that provides affordable, quality, cost-efficient care. The public option is a critical part of reform and it must not be bargained away. It is the affordable solution for small businesses.
It is the only option for people who have lost jobs due to the economy and do not have affordable alternatives for health insurance. We have a safety net for the very poor. There is no safety net for the middle class. The public option is the answer for middle-class persons such as widows under 65 and people who are denied affordable coverage due to pre-existing conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. This is the option for working people who have worked all of their lives and, yet, do not have an affordable option for health-care coverage for their families.
Our country can have health-care reform with basic standard benefits and equal payment for public and private providers. There must be a level playing field for transparency, cost and choice of health care. We can no longer put our nation's health at risk by doing nothing.
JOYCE A. SCHLAG
Banksville
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First Published: September 12, 2009, 4:00 a.m.
