Letters to the editor

The following are letters to the editor that appeared in the Sept. 9 print edition of The Peninsula Gateway. To submit a letter, e-mail gatewayeditor@gateline.com. Please keep letters submissions to 250 words.

Cleanup of road signs more about money than keeping area clean

Re: The recent notice about signs and placards on our county roadways.

Do not allow the local officials to railroad you into thinking that this is their main concern — it’s not.

It’s important to keep the highways clean and free of debris, but, as some of us are already aware, the bottom line is, as always, money.

If you don’t voice your opinion, they are certainly going to enforce theirs.

Pamela S. Pugh, Gig Harbor

Posters of ‘Nazi’ Obama not going to bring meaningful conversation

As I entered the Gig Harbor Post Office, I walked past the political table that is regularly on the sidewalk.

“Want to stop Obama?” the young man asked as I walked by.

“No,” I said. “I support President Obama.”

As I exited the post office, I glanced at the table and saw to my amazement a poster of President Obama with a mustache added to make the president resemble Hitler.

I said, “and I think your poster is disgusting.”

I continued walking to my car as the young man said something unintelligible, and he and his partner laughed and laughed.

If that hateful poster is an attempt to invoke some sort of civil and meaningful discussion, it misses the mark by a country mile. I have seen on TV the same poster and swastika-embellished placards at some town halls, as U.S. representatives and senators attempt to field questions regarding the health care issue.

Recently, on TV, Sen. Barney Frank listened as a woman asked him why he continued to support “Nazi” Obama (no specific issues in her diatribe, just hateful words). Frank appropriately countered by asking her on which planet did she spend most of her time!

I support the senator, and I support President Obama.

Hateful posters, placards and words do not promote meaningful dialog between people. The young man at the post office may have a conversation with a few people who already agree with his hateful philosophy, but not many thinking, fair-minded people are going to be drawn in.

At least he did not have an assault rifle or a side arm strapped to his side, like some of the radicals on TV.

Bill Herring, Gig Harbor

Be wary of potential scammers in downtown Gig Harbor

The women in our family have been approached twice in the past week by young men in dress shirts and ties who have walked right up to them and started asking questions about fun and fitness.

On the most recent occasion, they scared my 12-year-old with questions and acted as if I (her father) wasn’t even there.

When I asked for credentials, they wouldn’t produce any but laid out more pitches for whatever it is they were selling. They asked not to be turned in.

I did manage to get a phone number (1-800-775-1975), and even though no one answered, the recording called them “Smart Circle.” A search on the Web produced numerous complaints about the company being a scam.

After our encounter in downtown Gig Harbor, I watched as they continued down the street, going up to families and going into office buildings and coffee shops.

Tom Collins, Gig Harbor

Discussion about health care reform important but needs facts

The Peninsula Gateway carried a story last month on a gathering of the Gig Harbor Republican Women’s Club to discuss health care reform.

A number of statements were made:

Reform is being rushed. It isn’t. Congress has been attempting reform for decades, and the slow approach has resulted in the current crisis with 47 million uninsured.

Tort reform will aid reform. So far, where tort reform has been implemented, there has been no reduction in health care costs to the consumer, compared with states with no reform.

There will be death panels. This has been thoroughly debunked. It began as a lobbyist lie that became an opposition talking point.

The amendment in question was introduced by a Republican congressman and only concerned reimbursement for voluntary Living Will consultations. A second amendment that requires treatment outcome reporting is similar to what is done in other countries (which have better treatment outcomes and greater life expectancy) to determine the most effective treatments.

The government cannot be trusted to administer a health care program. The private sector is a better vehicle.

Is this the same private sector that gave us Worldcom, Enron, AIG, Wall Street banks and the mortgage lenders that brought the global economy to its knees?

Only the oil companies represent a higher profit margin than the health care insurers and Big Pharma, yet insurance costs and drug prices continue to rise, measurably outpacing inflation.

Government has given us medicare, SCHIP and TriCare. All have lower administrative costs, fewer patient restrictions and receive high satisfaction ratings from their participants.

Patricia Melsha, Gig Harbor

Dicks not willing to listen to ideas at town hall health care meeting

We attended Congressman Norm Dicks’ town hall meeting on Aug. 31 in Bremerton. It would have been a complete waste of time, except it was heartening to see how many of his constituents oppose his position on big-government-run health care.

Dicks appeared to have already made his decision to support it and even said he has “always supported a single-payer system.”

He was inarticulate and unaware of the facts. Some of his posted bullet points were erroneous. He guessed that the number of illegal aliens who are part of the uninsured total was only 1 percent (470,000), when the real number, according to the CBO is about 8.5 million.

He was dismissive with several constituents with whom he disagreed.

We expected to have a spirited debate on the facts, not to be met with his defensive attitude and the current regime’s “talking points.” His 100 percent opposition to any tort reform proves he is not truly interested in cost containment.

Dicks could not explain how the program would be paid for (except by reducing Medicare and fraud.) He insisted that private insurance would not be extinguished by being forced to compete with the deep-pocketed government option. It’s wishful thinking, but it defies logic.

Dicks’ representation of our interests on this matter is deplorable. He did not listen to learn, but to defend his pre-determined position.

I urge others to contact his office to demand that he vote to defeat this freedom-grabbing, expensive health care bill. True reform must start with tort reform, competitive insurance across state lines, and the elimination of a public option.

If he is not willing to vote for real reform, join me in voting him out of office in next year’s election!

Jean Munday, Gig Harbor

Building capacity not large enough for town hall meeting

On behalf of Norm Dicks’ constituency, who see him so infrequently, many of us showed up at the town hall scheduled for Aug. 31 at the Kitsap Conference Center only to be told that the 1,000-person capacity had been reached at 6:30 that evening.

Everybody who arrived afterward was turned away.

Given that most of us had to make special arrangements to travel and participate in the discussion of several heavyweight issues our nation faces, please make a larger facility available next time so we all can be heard.

Our fear, of course, is that we won’t see you again until you’re up for re-election — if even then.

Kris Grose, Fox Island

Waterfront organization needs to be more public

The Gig Harbor Historic Waterfront Association accepts public funds with which to operate, but it chooses to hold meetings which are not publicized or open to the public.

The GHHWA chooses its officers and committees from within closed ranks. It has done nothing to instill confidence in the membership as a whole, and it is not governing its organization as its bylaws dictate.

The GHHWA accepts money from membership, but it doesn’t solicit their input or direction in making decisions that impact them.

Many have left the board and staff because of its leadership methods, and as a consequence, I question its viability as a public entity.

Its funding should be in question, too, because of its actions.

The idea of the Gig Harbor Historic Waterfront Association is a good one, but the actions and leadership should be changed.

Art Britton, Gig Harbor